A Framework for the Discovery of Passive-Control, Minimum Energy Satellite Constellations

Ferringer, Matthew P.; DiPrinzio, Marc D.; Thompson, Timothy G.; Hanifen, Kyle; Reed, Patrick M.

doi:10.2514/6.2014-4158

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…12 As noted by Ferringer et al, these perturbative effects can result in as much as a 60% reduction in constellation performance over a 10-year period when the constellation is passively controlled. 11 Due to this deficiency, rather than use the constellation as prescribed in Draim 2 GRIPS was configured to optimize a 4-satellite design given only prescribed periods (constraints on , ). By giving GRIPS the flexibility to search beyond Draim's prescribed orbits, it was allowed to discover whether or not passively controlled, global coverage were possible in a heavily perturbed regime.…”

Section: Constellation Design Problem Formulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A revisitation of Draim's original 4-satellite global coverage constellation is considered under the influence of higher order perturbation forces such as oblateearth effects, atmospheric drag, as well as gravitational effects of the Sun and Moon. This high-fidelity propagation is performed using The Aerospace Corporation's Spacecraft High-fidelity Astrodynamics Resource Kit (SHARK) 11 which feeds spacecraft positional data to The Aerospace Corporation's coverage analysis tool, REVISIT. 12 As noted by Ferringer et al, these perturbative effects can result in as much as a 60% reduction in constellation performance over a 10-year period when the constellation is passively controlled.…”

Section: Constellation Design Problem Formulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Model Diagnostic Analysis of Global Coverage Satellites

Kelly

Ferringer

2014

AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference

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We investigate the ability of a reduction in the complexity of a model to enable a more rapid optimization of that model, with minimal reduction in accuracy, if critical parameters and features are identified and contained within the reduced model. We present a Model Diagnostics analysis of the Draim global coverage constellations and the underlying coverage model used to analyze their performance using Sobol's method of sensitivity indices. We propose complexity reduction based on the diagnostic analysis. Two separate optimizations are run using a Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm optimization tool. One optimization uses the original problem formulation while the other uses a reduced-complexity formulation. We demonstrate that subtle behavior in the interaction of all parameters (not only the critical ones) dramatically affects performance of the optimization. Nomenclature= First Order Sensitivity index of parameter i = Second Order Sensitivity index of parameter i = Total Order Sensitivity index of parameter i = Interactive Sensitivity index of parameter i = Semi-major Axis for satellite = Eccentricity for satellite = Inclination for satellite = Right Ascension of the Ascending Node (RAAN) for satellite = Argument of Perigee for satellite = Mean Anomaly for satellite = Minimum Elevation Angle

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Section: Constellation Design Problem Formulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Constellation Design Problem Formulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Model Diagnostic Analysis of Global Coverage Satellites

Kelly

Ferringer

2014

AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference

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“…The astrodynamics simulations of alternative rainfall focused satellite portfolios exploit the Spacecraft High-fidelity Astrodynamics Resource Kit (SHARK) simulation (Vallado 2001, Montenbruck and Gill 2005, Ferringer et al 2014, which predicts the satellites' motion as a function of time. These low earth orbit missions are intermittent coverage constellations, which have complex distributions of data gaps (Hou et al 2008).…”

Section: Astrodynamics Mission Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is necessary to accumulate the satellite overpasses or gaps into metrics that allow for the evaluation of the quality of coverage. The Revisit software (Ferringer et al 2007, Ferringer et al 2014 uses the position vector information from the SHARK simulation to determine visibility to ground locations and computes coverage statistics for multi-sensor, multi-constraint satellite constellation architectures. Several of the most common metrics are maximum revisit time, average revisit time, maximum coverage gap, mean coverage gap, percent coverage, daily visibility time and mean response time.…”

Section: Astrodynamics Mission Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Internationally coordinated multi-mission planning is now critical to sustain the space-based rainfall observations needed for managing floods globally

Reed

Chaney

Herman

et al. 2015

Environ. Res. Lett.

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At present 4 of 10 dedicated rainfall observing satellite systems have exceeded their design life, some by more than a decade. Here, we show operational implications for flood management of a 'collapse' of space-based rainfall observing infrastructure as well as the high-value opportunities for a globally coordinated portfolio of satellite missions and data services. Results show that the current portfolio of rainfall missions fails to meet operational data needs for flood management, even when assuming a perfectly coordinated data product from all current rainfall-focused missions (i.e., the full portfolio). In the full portfolio, satellite-based rainfall data deficits vary across the globe and may preclude climate adaptation in locations vulnerable to increasing flood risks. Moreover, removing satellites that are currently beyond their design life (i.e., the reduced portfolio) dramatically increases data deficits globally and could cause entire high intensity flood events to be unobserved. Recovery from the reduced portfolio is possible with internationally coordinated replenishment of as few as 2 of the 4 satellite systems beyond their design life, yielding rainfall data coverages that outperform the current full portfolio (i.e., an optimized portfolio of eight satellites can outperform ten satellites). This work demonstrates the potential for internationally coordinated satellite replenishment and data services to substantially enhance the cost-effectiveness, sustainability and operational value of space-based rainfall observations in managing evolving flood risks.

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“…The main reason to define this new measure is that other commonly used metrics such as mean revisit time are insensitive to scenarios with undesirable long gaps, which are compensated with numerous short gaps. Also, most papers in the literature only look at optimizing orbital parameters [15,12,14,13,24,25,26,33,34,17], whereas this work also incorporates other important aspects in the orbit selection process, such as robustness and deployment strategies.…”

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confidence: 99%

Assessment of constellation designs for earth observation: Application to the TROPICS mission

et al. 2019

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The orbit and constellation design process for Earth observation missions is complex and it involves trades between different metrics such as mission lifetime, instrument performance, coverage, cost, and risk among others. In this work, these figures of merit were utilized to support the orbit selection process used during Pre-Phase A and Phase A studies for the NASA-funded Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity (TROP-ICS) mission. Thousands of potential constellations were defined, simulated and compared with each other according to different mission coverage requirements. The sensitivity and robustness of figures of merit to various hypothetical operational failures (e.g., loss of one satellite or one launch) was systematically measured. A deployment strategy based on differential drag was described and analyzed. Finally, the orbital lifetime of various architectures was also studied with respect to NASA's 25 years de-orbiting recommendation. The contributions of this work include: (1) an exhaustive analysis of figures of merit commonly used in Earth observation orbit design, including a new metric called Continuous High-Revisit Coverage, which captures the long coverage gaps left by string-of-pearls constellations. (2) A methodology to assess robustness of constellations based on a brute-force disjoint scenario simulation approach (3) Results and recommendations from the mission analysis process for the TROP-ICS mission. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Pau Garcia Buzzi is a second-year aerospace engineering student at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University. He received a double Bachelor's degree in industrial and telecommunications engineering from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech) in Barcelona, Spain. In August 2018, he will graduate with an Master's of Science degree in aerospace engineering. He is particularly interested in the coverage analysis and constellation design for Earth observation missions. During the past two years, Pau worked under the supervision of his advisor, Dr. Daniel Selva, as part of the orbit and constellation design team of the NASA-funded Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity (TROPICS) mission. This experience provided him with valuable experience and insight into the orbit analysis and design of large constellations of Earth observing satellites. Pau was initially a doctorate student at Cornell University but will transfer to Texas A&M together with his advisor in the Fall 2018 semester, after obtaining his Master's degree from Cornell University. In the short term, he looks forward to continuing his investigation and applying machine learning techniques to the orbit and constellation design of future space missions. In 3 years, Pau wishes to obtain his doctorate degree at Texas A&M university. Outside of academics, Pau enjoys outside activities including fitness and running, and he has a lifelong passion for soccer. iii This document is dedicated to all my friend...

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A Framework for the Discovery of Passive-Control, Minimum Energy Satellite Constellations

Cited by 5 publications

References 7 publications

Model Diagnostic Analysis of Global Coverage Satellites

Model Diagnostic Analysis of Global Coverage Satellites

Internationally coordinated multi-mission planning is now critical to sustain the space-based rainfall observations needed for managing floods globally

Assessment of constellation designs for earth observation: Application to the TROPICS mission

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