The expansion of the commercial space industry has led to the growth of the commercial launch / reentry operations and an increase in demand for space mission planning and operations models and technologies. Mission planning and operations are complex and multi-disciplinary tasks setting up ground stations, mission control structures, and procedures for mission operations. The Space Mission Planning & Operations (SMPO) journal covers all aspects of missions planning, operations, and control, including the transition from pre-operational planning to real-time operations and post-operation review and analysis. The principal objective of SMPO is to provide state-of-the-art information for academic researchers, policy-makers, scientists, and engineers concerned with developing new methodologies, tools, and technologies for space mission planning, scheduling, operations, control, and assessment.

This journal is intended for space scientists, engineers, computer scientists, operations researchers, management scientists, information scientists, and technology managers. The journal sources theoretical, empirical, and analytical research, real-world applications and case studies in space science and business, and space science and technology.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to: