TRAJECTORY PLANNING FOR A PROXIMITY OPERATIONS FLYBY OPERATION ON THE TENZING MISSION

Safe execution of close proximity operations between two spacecraft is critical to the development of refueling, satellite inspection, and servicing technologies. Previous missions successfully implementing proximity operations and formation flight have done so as a primary mission objective with extensive technology development campaigns and single-use mission planning procedures. This approach is not viable in future widespread refueling and servicing activities where safe proximity operations will not be the primary objective of missions, but rather one phase amongst many in their life cycle. To enable this transition, it is necessary to demonstrate the possibility of implementing proximity operations maneuvers with spacecraft developed using primarily commercial off the shelf (COTS) components with a scalable and adaptable mission planning and operations framework. For these reasons, a proximity flyby operation is planned for the Tanker-001 Tenzing mission. Tanker-001 is the world's first orbital propellant tanker: a ~35 kg small satellite that in addition to its primary mission, serves as an on-orbit testbed for key technologies enabling on-orbit refueling, including Orbit Fab’s Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface (RAFTI), the SCOUT-Vision stereo imaging, processing, and relative navigation system by SCOUT, and a Benchmark Space Systems HTP (High Test Peroxide) monopropellant thruster system. Successful completion of this flyby activity will demonstrate the feasibility of implementing close proximity operations as a secondary mission objective with SmallSats using COTS components and pave the way for future widespread refueling and inspection activities involving proximity maneuvers.