Operational Collision Risk Management – Evaluating and Mitigating High-Risk Conjunction Events

Matthew Duncan (SpaceNav), Joshua Wysack (SpaceNav)

Keywords: collisionavoidance, conjunction

Abstract:

Operational collision threat characterization is now an essential component of space mission operations. Most spacecraft operators have some semblance of a process to evaluate and mitigate high-risk conjunction events. As the size of the space object catalog increases, satellite operators will be faced with more conjunction events to evaluate. Thus more sophisticated collision threat characterization and collision avoidance strategies must be implemented. This paper presents an overview of SpaceNav’s Collision Risk Management software. The software suite enables mission stakeholders to qualify high interest conjunction events. The tools produce various figures and graphs, which aid in analyzing event data. Optimal avoidance maneuver solutions are generated for a user defined set of goals and constraints.

Date of Conference: September 13-16, 2011

Track: Poster

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