A Collaborative Optimization Approach to Design and Deployment of a Space Based Infrared System Constellation

Abstract

Collaborative optimization, as a design architecture, has been used successfully in solving large-scale multidisciplinary optimization problems related to aircraft and space vehicle designs. The study presented in this paper attempts to demonstrated yet another application for this architecture, i.e., to satellite constellation designs. As an example, it is implemented for the design and deployment problem of a space based infrared system placed at a low earth orbit. Preliminary results on a simplified problem are presented as a proof-of-concept. The constellation configuration is fixed to be a 28/4/2 Walker delta pattern (four planes with seven satellites per plane and relative phasing of two). The mission orbit, spacecraft design, and deployment strategy are varied to determine the optimal system (i.e., one with the minimum cost to deployment). Problem reformulation required by the collaborative optimization architecture and some implementation issues are discussed. The three analysis tools used in this study are also described in this paper. The constellation design module finds orbit parameters and constellation configurations that satisfy the coverage requirements. The spacecraft model performs the payload and bus design. Finally, the launch manifest module finds the best strategy, in terms of total launch cost, to deploy the constellation system.