This research considers the percentage of time that geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO)- and HEO-based optical sensors can track dim cislunar targets in L2 near-rectilinear Halo orbit (NRHO), taking into account observer constellation configuration—number of observer satellites and their orbits—as well as the sensors’ lunar exclusion angle (LEA). Simulations are created using systems tool kit (STK) to model the targets, observers, sensors, and all relevant orbits. Outputs of the simulations include target-sensor-Moon and target-sensor-Sun angles, as well as target signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Outputs are used for analyzing whether the observer constellation has access to the target (i.e., at least one sensor is not lunar- or solar-angle excluded), and the quality of the observation (i.e., the achieved SNR for every time step of the simulation). This research finds that LEA is the most significant variable influencing the extent to which tracking custody can be maintained over L2 NRHO and Halo targets. While utilizing larger OCCs does tend to increase the probability that targets will be trackable, this effect is insignificant relative to the impact of utilizing a smaller LEA. If a 1 deg LEA is implemented for these sensors, target tracking is successful through roughly 50% of the synodic period for targets in either orbit. Increasing the LEA beyond 3 deg decreases tracking uptime by a very significant margin for Halo targets, but not as significantly for NRHO targets. |
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CITATIONS
Cited by 1 scholarly publication.
Signal to noise ratio
Sensors
Target detection
Optical sensors
Optical tracking
Satellites
Simulations