Definition of Low Earth Orbit Slotting Architectures Using 2D Lattice Flower Constellations
Name
J24_2020.pdf
Description
Accepted version
Size
631.51 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
ba3443e9d019fe6cc2c4e263404e1025
Author(s)
Arnas, David
Lifson, Miles
Linares, Richard
Avendaño, Martín E
Date Issued
2021
Journal
Advances in Space Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
© 2020 COSPAR This work proposes the use of 2D Lattice Flower Constellations (2D-LFCs) to facilitate the design of a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) slotting system to avoid collisions between compliant satellites and to optimize the available orbital volume. Specifically, this manuscript proposes the use of concentric orbital shells of admissible “slots” with stacked intersecting orbits that preserve a minimum separation distance between satellites at all times. The problem is formulated in mathematical terms and three approaches are explored: random constellations, single 2D-LFCs, and unions of 2D-LFCs. Each approach is evaluated in terms of several metrics including capacity, Earth coverage, orbits per shell, and symmetries. Additionally, a rough estimate for the capacity of LEO is generated, subject to certain minimum separation and station-keeping assumptions, and several trade-offs are identified to guide policy-makers interested in the adoption of a LEO slotting scheme for space traffic management.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.asr.2020.04.021
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2020.04.021
