Speaker
Stefanie Lück
(DLR)
Description
On behalf of future missions with electric propulsion controlled by DLR’s German Space Operations Center (DLR/GSOC) the present operational multi-mission Flight Dynamics System (FDS) is enhanced to support the preparation and operation of corresponding satellite missions.
For designing an easily extendable framework, low-thrust scenarios including orbit raising to GEO, GEO station keeping as well as LEO missions were considered. Each low-thrust phase is modelled by a thrust profile comprising non-equidistant thrust vector and thrust level. In a first step, we consider the thrust level to be constant over a thrust phase.
Based on this design several multi-mission FD software modules are enhanced to handle low thrust phases, e.g. orbit prediction, orbit determination including thrust level estimation, and generation of orbit related products.
The low-thrust transfer trajectories are optimized by means of the software package ASTOS/GESOP [1]. This package was configured within the present FDS with astrodynamics models used at DLR/GSOC to ensure maximum compliance between Mission Planning/Analysis results and operational realization. Operational and technical constraints, e.g. thrust interruption during eclipses, are implemented, too.
Throughout the paper, we will demonstrate the extended FDS capabilities by means of a GEO positioning reference mission. We found a remarkable consistency between resulting ephemerides by the optimizer in comparison to the FDS, which shows the correct processing of thrust profiles within the FDS. For the future the need for extension to variable thrust levels will be analyzed.
[1] GESOP© by Astos Solutions (2015), Version 7
| Applicant type | First author |
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Primary author
Stefanie Lück
(DLR)
