A practical application of accurate non-gravitational disturbance model with pre-computed tensor method

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17H06615
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Aerospace engineering
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Ikari Satoshi 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科(工学部), 助教 (00802977)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-08-25 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 軌道上外乱 / 太陽輻射圧 / 空力外乱 / 熱輻射圧 / 軌道決定

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to realize a high-accurate space operation, we have to precisely predict position and attitude behavior of spacecraft. A precise calculation method for small non-gravitational disturbances (e.g., solar radiation pressure, air drag, and so on) is essential for precise prediction of the position and attitude. The author have proposed "pre-computed geometry tensor method" for accurate and quick calculation of solar radiation pressure in the previous research.
This research expanded the proposed method to air drag and thermal radiation pressure calculations. In addition, the proposed method is applied to actual spacecraft analyses by using real observation data to verify the usefulness of the method. The analyses showed that the proposed method can precisely and quickly calculate non-gravitational disturbances in the real problem.

Free Research Field

宇宙工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は，非重力外乱(太陽輻射圧や空力外乱など)という微小な力に焦点を当てている．これらの力は地上では重力や摩擦力に対して小さすぎて無視されているが，宇宙空間では大きな問題となる．一件，社会的意義の小さな研究に見えるが，この微小な力を高精度に計算することで，人間社会で必要不可欠になっているGPSシステムの精度向上につながる．また，将来の高度な宇宙ミッション（宇宙重力波望遠鏡など）を実現するためには，このような微小な力を高精度に計算し，宇宙機の動きを予測する必要がある．
本研究はこの微小な非重力外乱を数値計算上だけでなく，現実的な問題の中で高精度に計算し評価したという点で意義深いといえる．