# SCI-Mamba: Unsupervised Learning based Low-Light Image Enhancement for Non-Cooperative Spacecraft

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.08033 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.08033/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Mamba for image restoration, one of 10 directions in State-space sequence models (S4, Mamba).
- Builds on 20 of its 53 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 9 Jul 2026.

## Placed in

- State-space sequence models (S4, Mamba) / [Mamba for image restoration](https://mlsanity.com/ssm/mamba-for-image-restoration/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 20 of 20)

- [Mamba: Linear-Time Sequence Modeling with Selective State Spaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.00752/) (2023)
- [VMamba: Visual State Space Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.10166/) (2024)
- [Uformer: A General U-Shaped Transformer for Image Restoration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.03106/) (2021)
- [Retinex-inspired Unrolling with Cooperative Prior Architecture Search for Low-light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.05609/) (2020)
- [Retinexformer: One-stage Retinex-based Transformer for Low-light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.06705/) (2023)
- [Learning to Enhance Low-Light Image via Zero-Reference Deep Curve Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00860/) (2021)
- [Ultra-High-Definition Low-Light Image Enhancement: A Benchmark and Transformer-Based Method](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.11548/) (2022)
- [Getting to Know Low-light Images with The Exclusively Dark Dataset](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.11227/) (2018)
- [Satellite Pose Estimation Challenge: Dataset, Competition Design and Results](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.02050/) (2019)
- [Retinexmamba: Retinex-based Mamba for Low-light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.03349/) (2024)
- [Zero-Reference Low-Light Enhancement via Physical Quadruple Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.12933/) (2024)
- [SPEED+: Next-Generation Dataset for Spacecraft Pose Estimation across Domain Gap](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.03101/) (2021)
- [Deep Learning for Spacecraft Pose Estimation from Photorealistic Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.04298/) (2019)
- [Correlation Matching Transformation Transformers for UHD Image Restoration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.00629/) (2024)
- [Adaptive Neural Network-based Unscented Kalman Filter for Robust Pose Tracking of Noncooperative Spacecraft](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.03796/) (2022)
- [ECMamba: Consolidating Selective State Space Model with Retinex Guidance for Efficient Multiple Exposure Correction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.21535/) (2024)
- [Wavelet-based Mamba with Fourier Adjustment for Low-light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.20314/) (2024)
- [Division Gets Better: Learning Brightness-Aware and Detail-Sensitive Representations for Low-Light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.09104/) (2023)
- [SpaceSeg: A High-Precision Intelligent Perception Segmentation Method for Multi-Spacecraft On-Orbit Targets](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.11133/) (2025)
- [Striving for Faster and Better: A One-Layer Architecture with Auto Re-parameterization for Low-Light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.19867/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Low-light visual perception acts as the core visual foundation for on-orbit servicing missions targeting non-cooperative spacecraft, supporting autonomous rendezvous, pose estimation, component detection and robotic capture operations. Spaceborne imagery suffers from severe low-light degradation, while the extreme scarcity of paired normal/low-light space samples severely limits the generalization capacity of supervised enhancement algorithms. To address this practical bottleneck, this paper proposes SCI-Mamba, an unsupervised enhancement network for low-light orbital spacecraft observations. The proposed framework unites self-calibrated unsupervised learning, linear-complexity VMamba architecture and Retinex physical priors, delivering a lightweight enhancement pipeline adaptable to resource-limited spaceborne hardware. We construct Space Dark-1.0, a dedicated low-light spacecraft dataset integrating real orbital footage, darkroom hardware-in-the-loop measurements and physically constrained synthetic data covering diverse illumination, motion and attitude conditions. Comprehensive comparisons with CNN-, Transformer- and prevailing Mamba-based approaches verify the advantages of SCI-Mamba in visual authenticity, color fidelity and inference speed. The proposed framework provides a practical low-light enhancement solution for close-proximity non-cooperative space operations. The code is available at https://github.com/bitswh/SCI-Mamba