Date of Award
2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Engineering (MSE)
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Committee Chair
Naga Venkat Adurthi
Committee Member
Robert Frederick
Committee Member
Jason Cassibry
Subject(s)
Orbit determination--Mathematical models, Cubature formulas
Abstract
This paper aims to examine the viability of using cubature methods, instead of the computationally expensive Monte Carlo method, to model cislunar orbits. The cubature methods examined are the Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) and Conjugate Unscented Transform (CUT). This study considers only specific halo and cycler orbits with no perturbations or propulsion systems. Orbits were modeled by choosing a most likely initial condition, generating sigma points, propagating those sigma points forwards in time, and calculating the average final state. It found that cubature methods can model cislunar orbits far more efficiently than the Month Carlo method, at the cost of some accuracy. Furthermore, higher-order CUT methods had similar efficiency and higher accuracy than lower-order methods. Therefore, for the conditions examined, higher-order methods can be used instead of lower-order methods and could be a viable alternative to the Monte Carlo method in cases where computational efficiency is valued over accuracy.
Recommended Citation
Meacham, Kellan, "Applications of cubature methods to initial orbit determination in cislunar space" (2023). Theses. 467.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/467