PhD Student

Department of Aerospace Engineering
2101 Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742
Graduate Research Fellow
Space Power and Propulsion Laboratory
Phone: (301) 405-8562 | E-mail: mmarcus2 (at) umd.edu

Research Interests

Multi-objective optimization, orbital debris remediation, small bodies mission design, advanced spacecraft propulsion systems, space robotics, space systems

Dissertation Topic

Spacecraft modeling for systems trade analysis and early concept spacecraft design

Abstract

Space missions, particularly robotic science missions, have grown increasingly competitive over recent years.  More and more missions are proposed to an essentially constant number of competed mission calls.  However, the resources to prepare these proposals have remained fixed.  This dissertation presents an automated framework to perform multiobjective optimization of an entire spacecraft, allowing upfront assessment and decision analysis among mission stakeholders prior to a concurrent design study.  The insight provided by the framework allows for the selection of a globally optimal or pareto-optimal initial design to be refined and locally optimized to a proposal level through a concurrent design campaign.

Optimization is performed by a genetic algorithm (GA) utilizing a variable length genome (VLG).  The VLG naturally allows the GA to represent the variable number of components that could be present in a system design.  This ability to model an entire spacecraft down to a component level with a variable number of components allows for a more open-ended design capability than previous frameworks.  Systems are evaluated through a user-defined simulation, and results can be presented in any trade space of interest based on the designs’ performance in the simulation. We apply the framework to the design of a generic Earth orbiting, data gathering mission, as well as to the design of low Earth orbit active debris removal spacecraft constellations.