The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium (NMSGC) at New Mexico State University recently awarded a $10,000 Graduate Research Fellowship to Sean Willey, a senior at The University of New Mexico School of Engineering.
“I am both humbled and honored to receive this fellowship from the NMSGC and NASA and hope that the resulting research will benefit the future of satellite constellation design,” said Willey.
Willey’s research, titled “Effects of Perturbations on Satellite Constellation Design,” seeks to verify the validity of parametric satellite constellation design by accounting for the effects of J2 perturbations on the equations of motion and the orbital elements of the individual satellites within the constellation patterns.
This unique approach aims to introduce an innovative method of designing satellite constellations utilizing repeating space tracks that can increase earth coverage while decreasing the energy required for operations having a primary effect on the design of relative motions involving two or more satellite systems.
The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium is a member of the Congressionally funded National Space Grant College Scholarship and Fellowship Program, administered by NASA. Its fellowships and scholarships are competitively awarded based on application information, faculty recommendation, GPA, the research project and NASA’s Mission. New Mexico Space Grant Consortium is located at New Mexico State University.
For more information, visit New Mexico Space Grant Consortium.