This thesis aims to develop an autonomous guidance and control for Earth monitoring missions, based on the Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) approach, alternative to the standard planning designed on ground. As case study, the scenario in which a spacecraft (S/C) has to overfly a given point located on the Earth surface, when the on-board software is triggered by an alarm, is considered. The satellite must guarantee a fast revisit and persistent monitoring of the event and, when the alert is over, the return to the initial orbit. As Earth observation mission, the ESA Sentinel-2 one is studied. Firstly, the strategies for the autonomous mission planning are developed.