A Performance-Based Comparison of Deep-Space Navigation using Optical-Communication and Conventional Navigation Techniques: Small Body Missions

Optical communications may be used in future NASA deep-space missions, resulting in
much higher data transfer rates. Those optical communication links could also be used for
navigation purposes. The performance of deep-space navigation for an asteroid flyby mission
using ground-based optical tracking and conventional navigation techniques was investigated
in this work. We present the results of variety of asteroid flyby scenarios including low phase
and high phase approach angle flybys, one slow flyby in a Trojan tour mission, and also one
slow flyby in a Psyche mission. In this task, four different types of observables were
simulated, namely ground-based radiometric, spacecraft on-board optical, ground-based
optical tracking of spacecraft (astrometry and 2-way range magnitude), and ground-based
asteroid astrometry. Different combinations of these four types of observables were compared
with currently in-practice ground-based radiometric/on-board optical measurements. The
results showed that the ground-based optical tracking is promising and could be a potential
candidate for future deep-space navigation. Precise astrometry is not possible for active
comets.