Conjunction Assessment(CA) Support Overview for the EOS Satellites
When a satellite is placed into its desired orbit, to achieve its designed mission objectives, it is imperative to maintain orbit requirements as well as the overall health and safety of the vehicle. One integral part of this process is ensuring that the satellite does not collide with any other vehicle or object in space, which can cause a detrimental consequence to the mission as well as to other satellites within the same orbit regime. To prevent such an occurrence, a thorough collision avoidance process must be followed. This process includes constantly monitoring potential conjunctions and performing collision avoidance maneuvers when necessary, while remaining within the limitations of the mission’s orbit maintenance requirements. This presentation will describe the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua, Aura and Terra satellite’s operational collision a! voidance process. It will highlight the routine conjunction assessment screening and data evaluation process performed by the NASA/GSFC EOS Collision Avoidance Engineers. The presentation will include background information, a summary of operational activities and duties, internal tools used for support, EOS High Interest Event statistics, and potential challenges expected in the future.