| Predicting the time of depletion of useful propellant on board a spacecraft is of paramount importance. Three axis, body stabilized, commercial, geosynchronous satellites present a special subset of this problem. This thesis effort presents a new technique employed by a major manufacturer of communications satellites. The new technique, known as the Batch Optimization Model (BOM), and the standard mass status bookkeeping method are compared. An uncertainty analysis of each technique is also provided to determine the best method which most accurately predicts the amount of propellant remaining. For the example considered herein, it is shown that the BOM provides more than 5 months improvement in the life prediction for a representative bipropellant mission. The 5 months improvement is comprised of 2 months due to propellant consumption improvement and 3 months due to uncertainty improvement. |
