AEM-D3QN: A Graph-Based Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Dynamic Earth Observation Satellite Mission Planning

Efficient and adaptive mission planning for Earth Observation Satellites (EOSs) remains a challenging task due to the growing complexity of user demands, task constraints, and limited satellite resources. Traditional heuristic and metaheuristic approaches often struggle with scalability and adaptability in dynamic environments. To overcome these limitations, we introduce AEM-D3QN, a novel intelligent task scheduling framework that integrates Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) with an Adaptive Exploration Mechanism-enabled Double Dueling Deep Q-Network (D3QN). This framework constructs a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) atlas to represent task dependencies and constraints, leveraging GNNs to extract spatial–temporal task features. These features are then encoded into a reinforcement learning model that dynamically optimizes scheduling policies under multiple resource constraints. The adaptive exploration mechanism improves learning efficiency by balancing exploration and exploitation based on task urgency and satellite status. Extensive experiments conducted under both periodic and emergency planning scenarios demonstrate that AEM-D3QN outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms in scheduling efficiency, response time, and task completion rate. The proposed framework offers a scalable and robust solution for real-time satellite mission planning in complex and dynamic operational environments.