Christian J. Fundamentals of Spacecraft Optical Navigation 2026

Textbook in PDF format

In the book, aerospace engineer John Christian delivers a rigorous and up-to-date discussion of optical navigation—the art of navigating spacecraft with camera images. The author combines the rich history of the fields of aerospace engineering, geometry, astronomy, planetary science, and computer vision with a robust treatment of the mathematics needed to solve contemporary problems.
Organized into ten chapters, the book provides the first comprehensive treatment of optical navigation. Readers will find:
-A detailed account of the history of optical navigation, with plentiful excerpts and figures from original sources
-A rigorous introduction to the mathematics of projective geometry
-Thorough introductions to spacecraft dynamics, kinematics, and reference frames
-Comprehensive explorations of star catalogs, astrometry, and planetary photometry
-Overview of optical instrument hardware design
-Practical discussion of celestial navigation and terrain relative navigation (TRN).
Perfect for graduate students interested in spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control, Fundamentals of Spacecraft Optical Navigation will also benefit aerospace faculty and aerospace professionals with a responsibility for designing, reviewing, operating, or working with optical navigation systems