Quadrant Analysis Method for Determining Optimum Thrust Direction in Collision Avoidance Maneuvers for LEO Satellites
- Paper number
IAC-24,A6,IP,77,x88833
- Author
Mr. Uzay Tugcular, TAI - Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc, Türkiye
- Coauthor
Dr. Ali Ugur Sazaklioglu, University of Turkish Aeronautical Association, Türkiye
- Coauthor
Prof. Cetin Senturk, University of Turkish Aeronautical Association, Türkiye
- Year
2024
- Abstract
Satellite collision avoidance maneuvers are crucial in modern space operations to mitigate the risk of catastrophic collisions between satellites in orbits around the Earth. This study investigates the relationship between optimum maneuver type, specifically In-Plane braking or In-Plane raising, and the relative position vector at the time of closest approach (TCA) given in Radial-Transverse-Normal (RTN) frame for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites with high relative velocity conjunctions. Since the maneuvers directed along the velocity vector of a satellite are generally easy to implement in operational sense, the thrust direction is constrained to be aligned with or directed opposite to the velocity vector. By performing a detailed analysis for several satellite conjunctions at LEO regime, a generic method is presented that makes it possible to find the optimal thrust direction, which ensures to reach the user-defined target miss distance value while minimizing the Delta-V requirement. The results of the analysis show that there is a close relationship between optimum thrust direction and the relative position vector at TCA. The key findings suggest that if the relative position vector written with respect to RTN frame has positive radial and positive transverse component, or negative radial and positive transverse component, then the optimum thrust direction is along the velocity vector which is the In-Plane raising. On the other hand, if it has positive radial and negative transverse component, or negative radial and negative transverse component, then the optimum thrust direction is opposite of the velocity vector which is In-Plane braking.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-24,A6,IP,77,x88833.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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