Multi-Fidelity Uncertainty Propagation with Model Adaptation to Local Cislunar Dynamics

Abstract

As the number of missions to cislunar space increases, the population of space objects in this region is expected to grow, making efficient uncertainty propagation essential for space situational awareness (SSA). This is complicated by the cislunar domain's vastness, chaotic dynamical environment, and limited availability of measurements. This paper presents an adaptive multi-fidelity uncertainty propagation method that dynamically adjusts the included perturbing forces based on position in cislunar space, minimizing computation time while maintaining a prescribed modeling accuracy. The proposed adaptive method is then integrated into a multi-target tracking framework to reduce the computational cost of track prediction without sacrificing accuracy, which is important for managing the growing number of objects in cislunar space. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated in simulated test cases relevant to upcoming cislunar missions and SSA applications, resulting in a significant reduction in computational cost compared to a non-adaptive approach while achieving equivalent or superior accuracy.