AMOS 2022 CARA Best Practices final.pdf
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This is a NASA presentation on Conjunction Assessment Best Practices and Lessons Learned, dated September 30, 2022, focusing on NASA's approach to preventing satellite collisions in orbit. The presentation outlines NASA's 3-step Conjunction Assessment process: identification of close approaches between orbiting objects, risk analysis through the NASA CARA (Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis) program, and collision avoidance through orbital maneuvers.
The document details key best practices for spacecraft design and operation, including orbit selection considerations, trackability requirements (>10cm for LEO, >50cm for GEO objects), deployment planning, and ephemeris generation processes. It addresses emerging challenges with autonomous satellite operations, particularly regarding SpaceX's Starlink constellation of approximately 2,000 satellites. The presentation introduces potential solutions like the "Mother May I" approach for coordinating autonomous spacecraft maneuvers and discusses NASA's collaboration with industry partners including SpaceX, Emergent Technologies, and UT Austin to develop prototype autonomous conjunction assessment capabilities. The document includes links to NASA's CA Handbook, CARA Tool Repository, and CA website for additional resources and guidelines.
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NASA Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis
• Debris-producing space events have potential to make LEO unusable
• Experienced Conjunction Assessment (CA) practitioners have established approaches to minimize this risk •Many space actors do not use these established approaches
– No one international standard set of CA guidelines / best practices
– Many Owner/Operators (O/O’s) unaware of best practices
– Some O/Os presume CA will be burdensome
• NASA collected its CA best practices and published them to assist other operators in maturing their practices and keeping space safe and accessible
NASA Best Practices Motivation
NASA Best Practices Handbook
• NASA Spacecraft Conjunction Assessment and Collision Avoidance Best Practices Handbook https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCE docs/OCE 51.pdf
• Helps space system operators understand existing capabilities and processes
– Includes related US Space Command (USSPACECOM) and the US
Space Force 18th Space Defense Squadron (SDS) best practices
• Provides technical background on NASA CA processes, including why requirements were levied and how to implement them
• Offers best practices for use by any spacecraft
Owner/Operator to help protect the space environment
• Companion software repository contains many of the tools used by NASA:
https://github.com/nasa/CARA Analysis Tools
• Becoming more common for satellites to employ autonomous maneuvering (especially large constellations)
– Current example: SpaceX’s Starlink, ~2000 active satellites operated this way
• Maneuvers automatically commanded/executed
– Often ground systems do not even know of maneuvers until after execution
• CA can also be executed autonomously
– Conjunction Data Messages (CDMs) for upcoming conjunctions uploaded to spacecraft
– On-board CA software can determine risk based on spacecraft’s latest position information, plan maneuvers to avoid close approaches, and execute them
– If CDMs generated with sufficiently large screening volume, then autonomous CA likely to be effective against debris
Satellite Autonomous Maneuvering
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