Past processor, sensor and software capability gain trends are identified as roots of ongoing advances in aerospace Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) systems. Functional decentralization, a wider variety of navigation sensors that have become self-aiding navigators, smaller avionics, as well as new classes of guidance and control algorithms that remain robust over expanding flight envelopes are some of those trends. Continuing GN&C hardware and software functionality advances are explored. The origins and directions of GN&C capabilities that enable autonomous vehicle operations are investigated including the development of means for higher-level interaction with humans, advances in fault management capabilities, and independent decision making functionality that adapts to changing environment and threat conditions. The challenges and possible mitigating approaches to verification and validation of increasingly complicated GN&C system designs are also addressed.
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