HIGH ACCURACY SPACECRAFT ORBIT PROPAGATOR VALIDATION

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Egyptian Armed Forces.

2 Assoc. Prof., October University for Modern Sciences and Arts (MSA), Egypt.

Abstract

ABSTRACT
The Space Situational Awareness (SSA) problem is becoming an exponentially
significant concern for satellite operators. The threat of on-orbit collisions endangers
satellites, spacecrafts and astronauts themselves especially in low-earth orbits
(LEO). Many collisions occurred between satellites and debris that include natural,
operational and non-operational objects in space. The collision between Russian
cosmos 2251 and American iridium 33, for instance, imposed the need for an
accurate orbital propagation module. In order to perform successful collision
avoidance maneuvers, the mission operators need the orbit prediction to be highly
accurate. Simple impractical number of collision avoidance maneuvers represents
dreadful solution to escape of collision. Fake warning means waste of fuel and
resources of satellite. This paper introduces an enhanced model to increase the
accuracy of propagation estimation based on a precise perturbation model.

Keywords