And for orbital mechanics, yes we can do it. But when something goes wrong (thruster malfunction, error in pointing), it can be complex to recover in real time with traditional algorithms. Given the difficulties in sat comms, this meant a lot of effort was put on making sure things go right 1/2

Imagine coding a self driving car going trans US. A simple way would be to code all the movements from the get go. But as soon as a small issue arises, it is game over. So you can either make sure there are no issues (expensive) or have something to correct the course when there is one. 2/2