It is part of the larger theory of pseudospectral optimal control, a term coined by Ross.
[2] Since then, Ross, Fahroo and their coworkers[3][4][5][6][7] have extended, generalized and applied the method for a large range of problems.
[8] An application that has received wide publicity[9][10] is the use of their method for generating real time trajectories for the International Space Station.
[16] Years later, many other software products emerged at an increasing pace, such as PSOPT, PROPT and GPOPS.
The Legendre pseudospectral method (based on Gauss-Lobatto points) has been implemented in flight[1] by NASA on several spacecraft through the use of the software, DIDO.