Colloquium: Thomas Bosboom(Space Flight)

With the expansion of the small satellite market and the rise of the lunar economy, developments of cost efficient and reliable navigation in cislunar space is increasingly important. However, the increase in the number of satellites exerts pressure on existing communication networks regarding availability, which can reduce orbit determination quality and worsen the financial budget of a small satellite mission. One way to release the pressure from the existing ground station communications is through the concept of Autonomous Orbit Determination (AOD) using inter-satellite links between at least two spacecraft. Literature has covered the topic of AOD but lacked relevance to mission and spacecraft design. This thesis aims to fill this knowledge gap, by researching the potential of improving cislunar missions using autonomous navigation by exploring the strategic adjustment of the timing of inter-satellite tracking sessions by optimizing for annual station keeping cost of a satellite, defined in Delta∆V.

Supervisor: Stefano Speretta