Abstract Space Situational Awareness, among other efforts, is aimed at providing a
comprehensive and accurate knowledge of all Earth-orbiting objects. This is done by
maintaining a catalog of space objects' states (position and velocity). In the absence of
observations, the orbits of these objects need to be numerically simulated. In this work, we
study the high area-to-mass ratio class of objects which are sensitive to very small changes
in perturbations, particularly the attitude dependent solar radiation pressure. This attitude …

Abstract Space Situational Awareness is aimed at providing timely and accurate information
of the space environment. This was originally done by maintaining a catalog of space
objects states (position and velocity). Traditionally, a cannonball model would be used to
propagate the dynamics. This can be acceptable for an active satellite since its attitude
motion can be stabilized. However, for non-functional space debris, the cannonball model
would disappoint because it is attitude independent and the debris is prone to tumbling …