Development of a Mission Analysis Tool for Autonomous Space Carrier

This work has been conducted in collaboration with the company D-Orbit, in particular, the Mission Analysis team. The main product D-Orbit offers is the In Orbit Now (ION), a satellite carrier with the aim of releasing CubeSats of clients into their operational orbits. The main strength of the ION carrier is that it has created an in-orbit transport service for CubeSats that did not yet exist, allowing companies to place their satellites in precise orbital slots that they could not reach before. The aim of the thesis is to design a new tool devoted to simplify and speed up the mission analysis process and, at the same time, ensure a higher level of confidence and precision. The main aspect of the problem is to consider the need for a comprehensive dynamic the model that takes into account the limited propulsive capabilities of the thrusters and the environmental effects that the satellite will face during its mission. Moreover, the complete analysis of the maneuvers needed for the success of the the mission is divided into two parts: the first part is represented by the calculation of a first approximation that very quickly leads to a first solution, which is then refined, analyzed with higher precision, and optimized in the second part. The complete optimization algorithm has been built on several levels, of which the innermost one is represented by the main analysis function whose task is to study the effects of propelled maneuvers on the satellite orbit. Externally to this, are inserted two optimizers for the selection of the correct parameters for the completion of the required orbital transfer. Different types of maneuvers have been studied to build the complete algorithm. The potential of this tool is very high, as it can be used both to perform a mission analysis in the preliminary phase and, with some improvements, can also be used in real-time analysis, such as in case of failure, to redefine a new maneuver planning to ensure the satellite reaches its desired orbit. In addition, the tool is completely reconfigurable very quickly to be adapted to different satellites (weight variations, propellants, thrusters, etc ...) and to different operational orbits to be reached, although the algorithm used during the present work has been validated only for low earth orbits. The sequence of maneuvers chosen leads to a very high degree of accuracy, compared with other validated algorithms available in the literature and, therefore, the confidence of the tool in the object of this thesis is high. All the choices made for the construction of this tool aimed at having a greater adherence to reality, trying to reproduce as accurately as possible, the behavior of the satellite. In addition, the chosen algorithm can be used for different space missions in low earth orbit, starting from missions similar to the case study (deployment of CubeSats for third parties), but, for example, also missions of orbital debris removal that will be increasingly necessary given the intensive usage of this type of orbit.