Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering
Space Systems Group (SSG)
Led by Norman G. Fitz-coy · Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
What we study
The Space Systems Group studies how satellites and robots move and work together. Projects include simulating satellites that fly in formation, guiding a spacecraft close to another object, and planning paths for robots that service reusable rockets.
What working here is like
- Computational
- No organisms (data only)
- Coding required
- Projects
- 3
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Satellite formation simulation
Builds a MATLAB simulation for testing control methods for satellite formations in low Earth orbit, covering both how they move along their orbits and how they point.
Autonomous proximity operations
Develops guidance, navigation and control for spacecraft that must approach another object precisely and autonomously, including an improved version of the standard Clohessy-Wiltshire orbit model.
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Robotic ground processing of reusable launch vehicles
Develops motion planning for robotic agents that inspect reusable launch vehicles on the ground to find and locate problems, working around kinematic and dynamic constraints.
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Debris generation from CFRP fragmentation derived from DebriSat experiment
2026 · Journal of Space Safety Engineering
- Space traffic management: Improvements to spacecraft collision avoidance (COLA)
2025 · Acta Astronautica
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- Multiphase Autonomous Docking via Model-Based and Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning
2024 · Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets
Uses reinforcement learning to help spacecraft dock autonomously in complex environments.
- Evaluation of Murrell’s EKF-Based Attitude Estimation Algorithm for Exploiting Multiple Attitude Sensor Configurations
2021 · Sensors
Tests whether Murrell’s EKF algorithm can estimate satellite attitudes using limited sensors.
- Velocity Extrema in Keplerian Relative Motion: A Gröbner Basis Approach
2021 · The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Norman G. Fitz-coy hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.