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Id: 407
Type: Conference paper
Published: 08/28/2026
Event: Astrodynamics Specialist Conference
Authors:
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Abstract:
Accurate propagation of Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites is increasingly important for conjunction analyses where numerous mega-constellations are planned and being built. The predominant source of uncertainty for LEO satellites is from mis-modeling of atmospheric drag. These errors translate directly to increased uncertainty in accurately avoiding satellite conjunctions – where a collision could devastate an orbital regime. Several new models improve the density calculations. COMSPOC conducted an experiment for the Office of Space Commerce (OSC) to evaluate and understand the behavior of these models with Orbit Determination (OD) of real observations. This paper presents some of the project initial results.
Citation:
Vallado, David A., Piyush M. Mehta and Tzu-wei Fang. 2026. New Atmospheric Model Performance Results for Satellite Operations in LEO. Paper AAS 26-698 presented at the AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, August 26-29. Whistler, Canada.
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