Design and Deployment of a Martian Global Navigation Satellite System Using Aerocapture
Name
Gochenaur2026_MarsPNTAerocapture_AcceptedVersion.pdf
Size
13.03 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
71d82b5bcda56d0fb260afab6370d120
Author(s)
Gochenaur, Daniel
Jones, Michael
Etzenbach, Lilly
Tommila, Christopher
De Weck, Olivier
Date Issued
June 15, 2026
Journal
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets
Publisher
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Citation
D.C. Gochenaur, M.P. Jones, L. Etzenbach, C.D. Tommila, and O.L. de Weck, Design and Deployment of a Martian Global Navigation Satellite System Using Aerocapture,
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets 0 0:0, 1-14
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Future Mars satellites and landers could benefit from improved position, navigation, and timing (PNT) support. Enhanced PNT capability could be provided by constellation-based systems similar to the Global Positioning System (GPS) at Earth. However, deploying such systems at other destinations is challenging, as satellites must be delivered to multiple orbit planes of differing orientations, many of which are not readily accessible from a common approach trajectory. Given this constraint, this work examines the design and deployment of a Mars global navigation satellite system using aerocapture with plane rotation to insert satellites into the desired orbits. The results show that constellations providing GPS-like coverage standards can be deployed using aerocapture from a single approach vector, with improved performance requiring greater total launch mass. For a 7 km/s hyperbolic arrival velocity, a five-plane, four-satellite-per-plane, 60-deg Walker–Delta constellation at 10,000 km altitude can be deployed using a combination of biconic, ellipsled, and sphere-cone entry vehicles. If constituent satellite masses are kept low, the complete constellation could be delivered using a single Falcon Heavy launch. Beyond demonstrating its applicability to Mars PNT deployment, this investigation underscores the broader potential of aerocapture with plane rotation to enable a wide range of future space exploration missions.
Subjects
Aerocapture
Global Positioning System
Mars
Global Navigation Satellite System
Orbit Maneuvers
Orbital Plane Change
PDOP
Entry Vehicle
Launch Packaging
Constellation Design
Orbit Phasing
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.2514/1.A36732
