Integrated Trajectory and Navigation Design in Unstable Orbital Environments

Abstract

In the unstable orbital environments about the Earth–Sun and Earth–Moon libration points, the traditional approach of separating trajectory and navigation design can show its limitations. Traditional approaches to navigation design may yield tracking schedule and measurement requirements that are burdensome with no direct indication of how they could be reduced or made more manageable by shifting the nominal trajectory. An integrated approach to trajectory and navigation design would allow a trajectory to be constrained by fundamental navigation metrics in addition to the traditional trajectory constraints of fuel and time. To develop such an approach, we are reexamining and reformulating the navigation problem from a dynamical systems perspective. This article will present the basic rationale for integrated trajectory and navigation design in unstable orbital environments, introduce some basic elements of this approach, and provide simple applications of this approach to a model problem.

Keywords

Details

Volume

42-150

Published

August 15, 2002

Pages

1–27

File Size

265.7 KB