Innovative Conjunction Prediction in Space Situational Awareness (SSA) using Voronoi Diagram with 3D Spheres
Abstract
AFRL has been using a high-performance computing (HPC) system for the space situational awareness (SSA). One of the critical tasks of SSA is conjunction prediction. For N space objects in the geospace, the current AFRL practice for conjunction prediction requires O(N2) operations in the worst case, and each operation requires O(M2) intersection or proximity tests with M sampling points from the orbit segments of each object (which is approximated by line segments). Hence, the computational requirement of the current practice turns out O(N2M2) where M is frequently very big to properly reflect the ratio of the size of tiny space objects to the lengths of orbit segments. For this reason, the use of an HPC system has been inevitable. There nevertheless exists a good possibility of missing potential collisions between space objects. Voronoi Diagrams can be applied for an efficient conjunction prediction which guarantees no missing conjunction situation. The proposed method, based on the dynamic Voronoi diagram of moving spherical balls in 3-dimensional space, takes only O(k log N) time in the worst case, where k is a relatively small constant, with O(N) preprocessing time on average. Thus, we expect that the proposed algorithm could sufficiently run on a high-performance desktop computer. We anticipate that the proposed Voronoi-approach could lead to revolutionary approaches for both collision avoidance and optimal maneuver path planning for satellites.geometry constructed with Voronoi diagram, which would otherwise not be feasible.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 09, 2018
- Source ID
- FA23861714050
Entities
People
- Deok-soo Kim
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force