Here’s a list of papers that I (personally) found to be must-reads in some of my areas of research interest. I omitted some of the obious “clasic” papers, and focused more on ones that are easier to read & start with on a given topic.

Optimization

Linear Programming

Column generation

• M. E. Lübbecke and J. Desrosiers, “Selected topics in column generation,” Oper. Res., vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 1007–1023, 2005, doi: 10.1287/opre.1050.0234.

• C. Barnhart, E. L. Johnson, G. L. Nemhauser, M. W. P. Savelsbergh, and P. H. Vance, “Branch-and-Price: Column Generation for Solving Huge Integer Programs,” Oper. Res., vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 316–329, Jun. 1998, doi: 10.1287/opre.46.3.316.

Lagrangean Relaxation

• H. Pirkul, “Efficient algorithms for the capacitated concentrator location problem,” Comput. Oper. Res., vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 197–208, 1987, doi: 10.1016/0305-0548(87)90022-0.

Other

• E. Klotz and A. M. Newman, “Practical guidelines for solving difficult mixed integer linear programs,” Surv. Oper. Res. Manag. Sci., vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 18–32, 2013, doi: 10.1016/j.sorms.2012.12.001.

Astrodynamics

Trajectory design

Indirect methods

• F. Jiang, H. Baoyin, and J. Li, “Practical techniques for low-thrust trajectory optimization with homotopic approach,” J. Guid. Control. Dyn., vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 245–258, 2012, doi: 10.2514/1.52476.

Feedback methods

• A. E. Petropoulos, “Low-thrust orbit transfers using candidate Lyapunov functions with a mechanism for coasting,” Collect. Tech. Pap. - AIAA/AAS Astrodyn. Spec. Conf., vol. 2, no. August, pp. 748–762, 2004, doi: 10.2514/6.2004-5089.

Navigation

Optical Navigation

• S. Henry and J. A. Christian, “Absolute Triangulation Algorithms for Space Exploration,” J. Guid. Control. Dyn., vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 21–46, Jan. 2023, doi: 10.2514/1.G006989.

• J. A. Christian and S. B. Robinson, “Noniterative Horizon-Based Optical Navigation by Cholesky Factorization,” J. Guid. Control. Dyn., vol. 39, no. 12, pp. 2757–2765, Dec. 2016, doi: 10.2514/1.G000539.

• J. A. Christian, “Accurate Planetary Limb Localization for Image-Based Spacecraft Navigation,” J. Spacecr. Rockets, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 708–730, Apr. 2017, doi: 10.2514/1.A33692.

Relative Motion

• E. N. Hartley, “A tutorial on model predictive control for spacecraft rendezvous,” 2015 Eur. Control Conf. ECC 2015, pp. 1355–1361, 2015, doi: 10.1109/ECC.2015.7330727.

• G. Gaias, J. S. Ardaens, and O. Montenbruck, “Model of J2 perturbed satellite relative motion with time-varying differential drag,” Celest. Mech. Dyn. Astron., vol. 123, no. 4, pp. 411–433, 2015, doi: 10.1007/s10569-015-9643-2.

• G. Gaias, S. D’, N. A. Amico, and J. S. Ardaens, “Generalised multi-impulsive manoeuvres for optimum spacecraft rendezvous in near-circular orbit,” Int. J. Sp. Sci. Eng., vol. 3, no. 1, p. 68, 2015, doi: 10.1504/IJSPACESE.2015.069361.

• T. Guffanti and S. D’Amico, “Linear Models for Spacecraft Relative Motion Perturbed by Solar Radiation Pressure,” J. Guid. Control. Dyn., vol. 42, no. 9, pp. 1962–1981, Sep. 2019, doi: 10.2514/1.G002822.

Control

MPC

• G. Takács and B. Rohaľ-Ilkiv, “Stability and Feasibility of MPC,” in Model Predictive Vibration Control: Efficient Constrained MPC Vibration Control for Lightly Damped Mechanical Structures, London: Springer London, 2012, pp. 1–515. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4471-2333-0.

Covariance control

• F. Liu, G. Rapakoulias, and P. Tsiotras, “Optimal Covariance Steering for Discrete-Time Linear Stochastic Systems,” pp. 1–30, 2022, [Online]. Available: http://arxiv.org/abs/2211.00618