Cislunar Space Situational Awareness
Author: Tianjiang Says
Website: https://cislunarspace.cn
Definition
Cislunar Space Situational Awareness (CSSA) refers to the capability of ensuring safe spacecraft operations through monitoring and analyzing objects, events, and environmental changes in cislunar space. These missions include tracking and predicting the motion of deep space objects, identifying potential collision risks, and providing real-time monitoring of space weather.
Strategic Context
The U.S. Department of Defense estimates that over 100 cislunar missions will be conducted in the next decade, deploying more than 400 spacecraft and generating significant cislunar space debris. The U.S. Space Force's "Space Superiority 2030" vision, established in 2020, proposed extending space situational awareness capabilities beyond geosynchronous orbit (XGEO) into cislunar space.
Major Programs
| Program | Description |
|---|---|
| Artemis Program | NASA's return-to-Moon program using DRO as the staging orbit |
| CHPS/Oracle | Air Force Research Laboratory's Cislunar Highway Patrol System |
| XGEO Architecture | Expected to achieve CSSA capability by 2030 |
| D2S2 | Defense Deep Space Sentinel for threat detection and response |
Application of DRO
DRO orbits are a potential application orbit for cislunar space situational awareness missions due to their:
- Good stability: Minimal station-keeping requirements
- Sufficient altitude: Wide field of view for observing cislunar objects
- Lunar flyby characteristics: Natural coverage of lunar vicinity
By deploying observation satellites on DRO orbits, high-coverage observation of target orbits such as DRO-M and NRHO can be achieved.
Related Concepts
References
- Lan Shunyong. U.S. Military Aims to Build "Cislunar Space Security"[J]. World Affairs, 2022.
- Zhang Rui, He Huidong, Zhu Guowei. Review of U.S. Cislunar Space Security Research[J]. Spacecraft Engineering, 2024.
- Chen Yuju. DRO Orbit Design and Control Research for Cislunar Space Situation Awareness[D]. 2024.