Abstract

The next generation of in-orbit assembled segmented space telescopes with aperture sizes larger than 15 metres will require the secondary optical system to maintain a formation flight in a presumed focal distance during observation periods, rather than a classical rigidly attached design on the end of a truss. This paper uses the Basilisk environment to simulate the stability of a two spacecraft telescope operating in the visible spectrum, in a highly elliptical and high earth orbit - examining the precision that can be obtained in formation before an adaptive optics system corrects for the remaining pointing drift and jitter error. Simulations demonstrate that across an entire sky coverage, for a period of 5 minutes, a system of this kind can maintain stability to a 34.03 µm lateral error and 27.43 µm defocus error, with minimal fuel expenditure. Simulations also demonstrate the pointing stability of the formation flight and …

Date

2026

Authors

Howard A Hall, David Barnhart

Book

ASCEND 2026

Pages

3024