This thesis investigates the orbital debris evolution in the geosynchronous disposal orbit regime and within geosynchronous orbits effected by the geopotential wells. A propagator is developed for the accurate simulation of GEO specific orbits and the required perturbations are determined and described. Collisions are then simulated in the selected regimes using a low velocity breakup model derived from the NASA EVOLVE breakup model. The simulations described in this thesis consider a set of perturbations including the geopotential, solar and lunar gravity, and solar radiation pressure forces. This thesis is based on a prior paper and additionally seeks to address an issue in simulating East-West trapped objects. The results show that this propagator successfully simulates the presence of all wells and the East-West entrapment, and the required perturbations are outlined. Five collision test cases were simulated, one for each type of entrapment and an additional for the disposal orbit.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis investigates the orbital debris evolution in the geosynchronous disposal orbit regime and within geosynchronous orbits effected by the geopotential wells. A propagator is developed for the accurate simulation of GEO specific orbits and the required perturbations are determined and described. Collisions are then simulated in the selected regimes using a low velocity breakup model derived from the NASA EVOLVE breakup model. The simulations described in this thesis consider a set of perturbations including the geopotential, solar and lunar gravity, and solar radiation pressure forces. This thesis is based on a prior paper and additionally seeks to address an issue in simulating East-West trapped objects. The results show that this propagator successfully simulates the presence of all wells and the East-West entrapment, and the required perturbations are outlined. Five collision test cases were simulated, one for each type of entrapment and an additional for the disposal orbit.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Polzine, Benjamin"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS in Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kira Abercromby"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-03-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-03-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:49Z","subjects":["Breakup","Perturbation","Debris","Astrodynamics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.15368/theses.2017.15"],"render_values":[{"text":"10.15368/theses.2017.15","href":"https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2017.15","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1703","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Kira Abercromby"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Polzine, Benjamin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-03-20T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS in Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Breakup","Perturbation","Debris","Astrodynamics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1703","10.15368/theses.2017.15"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis investigates the orbital debris evolution in the geosynchronous disposal orbit regime and within geosynchronous orbits effected by the geopotential wells. A propagator is developed for the accurate simulation of GEO specific orbits and the required perturbations are determined and described. Collisions are then simulated in the selected regimes using a low velocity breakup model derived from the NASA EVOLVE breakup model. The simulations described in this thesis consider a set of perturbations including the geopotential, solar and lunar gravity, and solar radiation pressure forces. This thesis is based on a prior paper and additionally seeks to address an issue in simulating East-West trapped objects. The results show that this propagator successfully simulates the presence of all wells and the East-West entrapment, and the required perturbations are outlined. Five collision test cases were simulated, one for each type of entrapment and an additional for the disposal orbit.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Collisional Evolution of Orbital Debris in Geopotential Wells and Disposal Orbits"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Kira Abercromby"],"dc:creator":["Polzine, Benjamin"],"dc:date.available":["2017-03-20T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis investigates the orbital debris evolution in the geosynchronous disposal orbit regime and within geosynchronous orbits effected by the geopotential wells. A propagator is developed for the accurate simulation of GEO specific orbits and the required perturbations are determined and described. Collisions are then simulated in the selected regimes using a low velocity breakup model derived from the NASA EVOLVE breakup model. The simulations described in this thesis consider a set of perturbations including the geopotential, solar and lunar gravity, and solar radiation pressure forces. This thesis is based on a prior paper and additionally seeks to address an issue in simulating East-West trapped objects. The results show that this propagator successfully simulates the presence of all wells and the East-West entrapment, and the required perturbations are outlined. Five collision test cases were simulated, one for each type of entrapment and an additional for the disposal orbit.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1703","10.15368/theses.2017.15"],"dc:subject":["Breakup","Perturbation","Debris","Astrodynamics"],"dc:title":["The Collisional Evolution of Orbital Debris in Geopotential Wells and Disposal Orbits"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS in Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:49Z"}