Design and Performance Analysis of Wide-range Observation Constellation in Cis-lunar Space

According to the requirements of cis-lunar space observation and earth-moon transfer target tracking observation, a tribe satellites constellation system at the Earth-Moon libration points (L1/L2 point)orbit and DRO orbit is designed. Firstly, the characteristics of cis-lunar targets and the scope of key areas are analyzed, and the orbits of the system is selected according to the observation requirements and maintenance costs. Then, the working mode of cis-lunar space ring sweep coverage detection and earth-moon transfer target tracking observation is designed according to the characteristics of the monitoring object. Finally, according to the apparent magnitude formula, the target brightness of different phase angles and the observation distances are simulated and analyzed to get the load detection capability requirements, and the load detection field of view requirements are derived. Through efficiency simulation analysis, the constellation’s coverage period of cis-lunar space is 8 days, which can achieve 100% coverage of the cis-lunar space in 1.5 cycles. The single-cycle observation of cis-lunar targets is not less than 14 times, the observation duration is more than 3.5 min, the observation duration of typical earth-moon transfer target account for more than 80% of the transfer period. It meets the requirements for cataloging and orbit determination of cis-lunar objects and earth-moon transfer objects. © 2024 Chinese Society of Astronautics. All rights reserved.