Conjunction Assessment and Mitigation for GSOC Satellites

Abstract

The operational experiences and the technical issues of the conjunction assessment for the satellites in LEO (up to ~510km altitude) and GEO are presented. For technical issues, the presentation especially focuses on the risk evaluation and the avoidance maneuver planning, which are essential for handling the critical situation correctly and promptly. The decision for the critical conjunction is made based on certain criteria, whereas the quality of the available orbital information varies depending on the space objects. Therefore, the evaluation of the conjunction risk concerning critical or not shall be performed carefully. Once a critical conjunction is confirmed, a proper avoidance maneuver shall be planned in a short period. The operational maneuver planning process is presented, where an operator can assess the proper maneuver size and epoch to reach a certain safety zone. After discussions of the technical aspects based on the past conjunction results, the presentation concludes with lessons learned from the operation and suggestions on further improvements.