K. Paterson, A. Murnick, A. Czekay
Paterson Aerospace Systems Corp., New York, United States
Keywords: Cislunar, Space Domain Awareness, Mission Design, Space Surveillance, Modeling & Simulation
In orbits such as cislunar, three-body gravity becomes more significant resulting in nonlinear dynamics. This frees spacecraft to conduct more dynamic maneuvers while using less propellant. This can be beneficial for stealth operations. Monitoring and having access to these orbits is of growing importance as humanity reinforce its permanence in space. Cislunar orbit is therefore positioned to become an active highway for spacecraft on par with LEO in coming years. Unfortunately, due to reliance on ground-based sensors for tracking in this regime is very limited. Through modeling and simulation (M&S), this project aims to understand cislunar orbits across various mission profiles. It will provide environment specific M&S to analysts and operators and may one day be used to design in-situ, near real-time threat detection in xGEO and beyond orbits. This paper will explore Monte Carlo simulation and other methods of risk assessment and uncertainty identification. It will research the parameters and specialized physics associated with operating in the cislunar environment as well as identify any existing data sources to include: • number of active spacecraft • amount of debris • types of missions and projected use for orbit • methods of tracking and uncertainty management