Attitude Estimation of H2A Rocket Body from Light Curve Measurements

Alessandro Vananti; Yao Lu; Thomas Schildknecht

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11

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Attitude Estimation of H2A Rocket Body from Light Curve Measurements

Alessandro Vananti, Yao Lu, Thomas Schildknecht

Published in International Journal of Astrophysics and Space Science (Volume 11, Issue 2)

Received: 18 September 2023 Accepted: 12 October 2023 Published: 28 October 2023

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Abstract

The knowledge of the attitude motion of space debris is relevant for active debris removal missions. One possibility to characterize the attitude of space objects consists in the acquisition of photometric measurements over time, called light curves. The observed object is illuminated by the Sun and the variation of its apparent brightness gives information about its attitude state, e.g. whether the object is tumbling or not. If the light curve indicates a clear periodic variation it can be assumed that the object is rotating around its own axis with approximately constant angular velocity. However, often the orientation of the spin axis in body-fixed and inertial frame is unknown and its determination is challenging. Depending on the observed object and the information available about its shape, surface, components, a limited number of methods exists to determine the spin axis orientation. In this article we focus the attitude analysis on the Japanese H2A upper stage. Several light curves of this type of rocket body exhibit specific peaks, which can be exploited to extract attitude information. We assume that the peaks are related to the specular reflection occurring on the conical part of the upper stage. We present a novel method to estimate the direction of the rotation axis from the position of these peaks.

Published in	International Journal of Astrophysics and Space Science (Volume 11, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11
Page(s)	15-22
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Space Debris, Attitude Determination, Light Curves, H2A Rocket Body

References

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APA Style

Alessandro Vananti, Yao Lu, Thomas Schildknecht. (2023). Attitude Estimation of H2A Rocket Body from Light Curve Measurements. International Journal of Astrophysics and Space Science, 11(2), 15-22. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11

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Alessandro Vananti; Yao Lu; Thomas Schildknecht. Attitude Estimation of H2A Rocket Body from Light Curve Measurements. Int. J. Astrophys. Space Sci. 2023, 11(2), 15-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11

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AMA Style

Alessandro Vananti, Yao Lu, Thomas Schildknecht. Attitude Estimation of H2A Rocket Body from Light Curve Measurements. Int J Astrophys Space Sci. 2023;11(2):15-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11,
  author = {Alessandro Vananti and Yao Lu and Thomas Schildknecht},
  title = {Attitude Estimation of H2A Rocket Body from Light Curve Measurements},
  journal = {International Journal of Astrophysics and Space Science},
  volume = {11},
  number = {2},
  pages = {15-22},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijass.20231102.11},
  abstract = {The knowledge of the attitude motion of space debris is relevant for active debris removal missions. One possibility to characterize the attitude of space objects consists in the acquisition of photometric measurements over time, called light curves. The observed object is illuminated by the Sun and the variation of its apparent brightness gives information about its attitude state, e.g. whether the object is tumbling or not. If the light curve indicates a clear periodic variation it can be assumed that the object is rotating around its own axis with approximately constant angular velocity. However, often the orientation of the spin axis in body-fixed and inertial frame is unknown and its determination is challenging. Depending on the observed object and the information available about its shape, surface, components, a limited number of methods exists to determine the spin axis orientation. In this article we focus the attitude analysis on the Japanese H2A upper stage. Several light curves of this type of rocket body exhibit specific peaks, which can be exploited to extract attitude information. We assume that the peaks are related to the specular reflection occurring on the conical part of the upper stage. We present a novel method to estimate the direction of the rotation axis from the position of these peaks.
},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Attitude Estimation of H2A Rocket Body from Light Curve Measurements
AU - Alessandro Vananti
AU - Yao Lu
AU - Thomas Schildknecht
Y1 - 2023/10/28
PY - 2023
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11
DO - 10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11
T2 - International Journal of Astrophysics and Space Science
JF - International Journal of Astrophysics and Space Science
JO - International Journal of Astrophysics and Space Science
SP - 15
EP - 22
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2376-7022
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11
AB - The knowledge of the attitude motion of space debris is relevant for active debris removal missions. One possibility to characterize the attitude of space objects consists in the acquisition of photometric measurements over time, called light curves. The observed object is illuminated by the Sun and the variation of its apparent brightness gives information about its attitude state, e.g. whether the object is tumbling or not. If the light curve indicates a clear periodic variation it can be assumed that the object is rotating around its own axis with approximately constant angular velocity. However, often the orientation of the spin axis in body-fixed and inertial frame is unknown and its determination is challenging. Depending on the observed object and the information available about its shape, surface, components, a limited number of methods exists to determine the spin axis orientation. In this article we focus the attitude analysis on the Japanese H2A upper stage. Several light curves of this type of rocket body exhibit specific peaks, which can be exploited to extract attitude information. We assume that the peaks are related to the specular reflection occurring on the conical part of the upper stage. We present a novel method to estimate the direction of the rotation axis from the position of these peaks.

VL - 11
IS - 2
ER -

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Author Information

Alessandro Vananti

Astronomical Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Yao Lu

Astronomical Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Thomas Schildknecht

Astronomical Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Alessandro Vananti, Yao Lu, Thomas Schildknecht. (2023). Attitude Estimation of H2A Rocket Body from Light Curve Measurements. International Journal of Astrophysics and Space Science, 11(2), 15-22. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11

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ACS Style

Alessandro Vananti; Yao Lu; Thomas Schildknecht. Attitude Estimation of H2A Rocket Body from Light Curve Measurements. Int. J. Astrophys. Space Sci. 2023, 11(2), 15-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11

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AMA Style

Alessandro Vananti, Yao Lu, Thomas Schildknecht. Attitude Estimation of H2A Rocket Body from Light Curve Measurements. Int J Astrophys Space Sci. 2023;11(2):15-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11,
  author = {Alessandro Vananti and Yao Lu and Thomas Schildknecht},
  title = {Attitude Estimation of H2A Rocket Body from Light Curve Measurements},
  journal = {International Journal of Astrophysics and Space Science},
  volume = {11},
  number = {2},
  pages = {15-22},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijass.20231102.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijass.20231102.11},
  abstract = {The knowledge of the attitude motion of space debris is relevant for active debris removal missions. One possibility to characterize the attitude of space objects consists in the acquisition of photometric measurements over time, called light curves. The observed object is illuminated by the Sun and the variation of its apparent brightness gives information about its attitude state, e.g. whether the object is tumbling or not. If the light curve indicates a clear periodic variation it can be assumed that the object is rotating around its own axis with approximately constant angular velocity. However, often the orientation of the spin axis in body-fixed and inertial frame is unknown and its determination is challenging. Depending on the observed object and the information available about its shape, surface, components, a limited number of methods exists to determine the spin axis orientation. In this article we focus the attitude analysis on the Japanese H2A upper stage. Several light curves of this type of rocket body exhibit specific peaks, which can be exploited to extract attitude information. We assume that the peaks are related to the specular reflection occurring on the conical part of the upper stage. We present a novel method to estimate the direction of the rotation axis from the position of these peaks.
},
 year = {2023}
}

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VL - 11
IS - 2
ER -

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