MANEUVER DETECTION AND ORBIT DETERMINATION OF A LOW EARTH ORBITING SATELLITE EXECUTING LOW THRUST FINITE BURN MANEUVERS
- Paper number
IAC-08.C1.4.2
- Author
Dr. Thomas Kelecy, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Moriba Jah, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), United States
- Year
2008
- Abstract
Concern for the safety of, and risk to valued space assets has spurred the interest in processes and procedures that permit timely detection of maneuvers for satellites tracked by current and future surveillance systems. The timely detection of maneuvers enables timely follow-up tracking which is crucial for post-maneuver orbit characterization. However, availability and location of surveillance resources may not always allow timely detection and follow-up. Real tracking data for a maneuvering satellite, operated by AFRL, were used for detection and process performance evaluation. This Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellite carried a small thruster that was used for routine orbit maintenance. Range and angles tracking data were obtained from the Space Surveillance Network (SSN) over the year 2007. In addition, burn logs for all executed maneuvers were obtained from the satellite operations to support validation of analysis done for this study. Periodic finite burn maneuvers were performed throughout the mission lifetime, sometimes in a sequence separated by hours, providing reference data for use in addressing a variety of maneuver scenarios. The ability to detect maneuvers and process through them under the assumption of no a priori maneuver information is examined for single and multiple maneuver scenarios. Batch Least-Squares (BLSQ) and Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) orbit determination processes are applied, analyzed and compared to determine the performance sensitivity to maneuver knowledge. Performance improvements are examined when process noise is applied to the EKF. The comparisons examine the reliability in detecting specific maneuvers, the orbit determination performance in processing over the maneuvers, and the subsequent prediction performance resulting from the state estimates. In addition, the techniques presented can also be applied to detecting and supporting resolution of on-board anomalies that might occur on cooperative space assets.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.C1.4.1.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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