I recently uploaded a personal astrodynamics project report on electric-propulsion East-West and North-South stationkeeping for a geostationary spacecraft at the 75°W longitude slot.
The project combines MATLAB analysis with GMAT representative full-perturbation cases. The final estimate is a semi-empirical 15-year stationkeeping campaign with total delta-v, usable propellant, initial wet mass, cumulative burn time, and East-West/North-South budget split.
Main assumptions:
- Dry mass: 2000 kg
- Electric propulsion thrust: 0.235 N
- Specific impulse: 4100 s
- Longitude deadband: ±0.1°
- Latitude deadband: ±0.05°
Main result:
- Total 15-year stationkeeping delta-v: 978.96 m/s
- Usable propellant: 49.29 kg
- Initial wet mass: 2049.29 kg
- Total EP burn time: 2342.72 hr
- North-South stationkeeping contribution: approximately 97.3% of total delta-v
The report is intended as a stationkeeping sizing and feasibility analysis, not as a fully automated closed-loop GMAT controller. A future extension would be an event-driven GMAT controller with optimized burn timing, burn magnitudes, and finite-duration electric-propulsion modeling.
I would appreciate feedback from anyone with experience in GEO stationkeeping, low-thrust spacecraft operations, GMAT mission analysis, or flight dynamics operations, especially on the correction-sizing assumptions and the path toward a closed-loop GMAT implementation.
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Egor Buntush
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville AL
(615)484-9927
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