Tag: orbital dynamics, space surfing
Researcher: Camilla Colombo
Department: DAER – Department of Aerospace Science and Technology
The motion of objects in space is governed by the gravity of the primary body (i.e., the Sun or the central planet or Moon), but it is also strongly influenced by natural forces such as atmospheric drag solar radiation pressure, third body effect and so on. Such orbit perturbations are responsible for the trajectory divergence of an orbiting object. In case of a spaceship, for example, this increases the requirements for orbit control. In the conventional models for orbit propagation, these external forces are seen as perturbations that need to be counteracted by orbit manoeuvres, thus increasing fuel requirements.
ERC project COMPASS, funded with 1.500.000 € under the Horizon2020 scheme, represents a breakthrough in the current space mission design philosophy: from counteracting disturbances, to exploiting natural and artificial perturbations. Researchers studied how to leverage the dynamics of natural orbit perturbations to develop novel techniques for orbit manoeuvring by “surfing” through orbit perturbations.
The first goal of COMPASS is to investigate the orbital dynamics in planetary and interplanetary missions in presence of perturbations through numerical, semi-analytical and analytical approaches, considering both natural orbit perturbations and artificial accelerations. The second goal is to study the dynamics of perturbations in the phase-space of the orbital elements through Hamiltonian dynamics and perturbation methods.
Researchers also considered the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project. The potential impact of the COMPASS project will be to significantly reduce the current extremely high space mission costs and risks. This will create new opportunities for space exploration and exploitation, and space debris mitigation, thus increasing the services that spacecraft can offer to society, such as the monitoring of our planets, weather forecast, global positioning and navigation, global internet, telecommunications. The COMPASS methodology also aimed at engineering the natural effects through optimisation to obtain useful space applications such as satellite end-of-life disposal and orbit raising and to enhance the conventional techniques for modelling the relative motion.
COMPASS is a project based in Politecnico di Milano and benefits from an extensive international network, including the ESA, NASA, JAXA, CNES, and the UK space agency.
