Optimization of Early-Phase Cislunar Navigation Constellations for Users Near the Lunar South Pole

Thumbnail Image
Files
aas23_442.pdf (2.93 MB)
Author(s)
Hartigan, Mark C.
Smith, Dillon
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Associated Organization(s)
Organizational Unit
Organizational Unit
Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
The Daniel Guggenheim School of Aeronautics was established in 1931, with a name change in 1962 to the School of Aerospace Engineering
Series
Collections
Research Publications
Supplementary to:
Permanent Link
https://hdl.handle.net/1853/74914
Abstract
To meet the needs of burgeoning global scientific and strategic interest in cislunar space, organizations such as NASA and the ESA have expressed interest in establishing a cislunar-based position, navigation, and timing (PNT) system. Minimal system implementations (defined as between 4 and 8 satellites) will provide critical PNT services to near-term cislunar missions and set the stage for constellation expansion and the establishment of a global lunar navigation service. This work proposes a set of fixed metrics through which cislunar PNT constellations can be evaluated, including: coverage, gap time, dilution of precision, user equivalent range error, and stationkeeping costs. Several minimal implementations that are proposed in literature are first examined, then optimized for certain design traits to improve system performance. Finally, simulations are conducted to compare constellation performance for end users - specifically ground stations and rovers.
Sponsor
Date
2023-08
Extent
Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Paper
Rights Statement
Unless otherwise noted, all materials are protected under U.S. Copyright Law and all rights are reserved
Rights URI
https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en