The field of planetary navigation and 3D imaging is witnessing significant advancements, driven by the need for improved robotic exploration and mapping of celestial bodies. Researchers are exploring novel approaches to address the challenges posed by complex illumination conditions and motion, which limit the range and accessibility of mobile planetary robots. Single-photon imaging is emerging as a promising technology for robotic exploration missions, particularly in perceptually challenging environments such as high-latitude lunar regions. Additionally, efforts to enhance the quality of 3D lunar maps are underway, with a focus on mitigating the effects of compression-induced noise and stereo matching errors. Hardware-aware coding function design is also being investigated to optimize the performance of compressive single-photon 3D cameras. Noteworthy papers in this area include:

• A study on single-photon imaging for planetary navigation, which presents a comprehensive evaluation of this technology for robotic exploration missions.
• A method for improving the quality of 3D lunar maps using JAXA's Kaguya imagery, which effectively reduces elevation noise and enhances terrain data safety and reliability.
• A constrained optimization approach for designing practical coding functions for compressive single-photon 3D imaging, which consistently outperforms traditional coding designs under hardware constraints.