Mission Concepts and Operations for Asteroid Mitigation Involving Multiple Gravity Tractors

Abstract

The gravity tractor concept is a proposed method to deflect an imminent asteroid impact through gravitational tugging over a time scale of years. In this study, we present mission scenarios and operational considerations for asteroid mitigation efforts involving multiple gravity tractors. We quantify the deflection performance improvement provided by a multiple gravity tractor campaign and assess its sensitivity to staggered launches. We next explore several proximity operation strategies to accommodate multiple gravity tractors at a single asteroid including formation-flying and mechanically-docked configurations. Finally, we utilize 99942 Apophis as an illustrative example to assess the performance of a multiple gravity tractor campaign.