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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.16982 |
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| _version_ | 1866914410914643968 |
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| author | Andrée, Bo Pieter Johannes |
| author_facet | Andrée, Bo Pieter Johannes |
| contents | Interstellar objects (ISOs) motivate a coupled mission-design and inference question relevant to spacecraft dynamics and control in extreme environments: if volatile-rich, rotating comet-like bodies were used for sustained deep-space navigation by exploiting pre-existing hyperbolic motion and in-situ propellant, what stability requirements arise under non-gravitational forcing, and what astrometric signatures might distinguish active stabilization from uncontrolled natural dynamics? We develop a stability-theoretic framework for trajectory tracking with jet-actuated correction, and show that high-speed transit geometry -- including debris-belt avoidance and encounter phasing -- tightly constrains feasible trajectories, making long-horizon tracking stability mission-critical. We model tracking residuals as the balance of disturbances and corrective action, and derive stability conditions across four levels: disturbance-energy stability, outer-loop contraction, actuator-memory stability, and rotation-mediated (Floquet) stability. The analysis implies residual diagnostics that can motivate empirical tests: under comparable forcing, effective stabilization is expected to strengthen short-horizon error correction, reduce event-conditioned persistence and variance clustering, regularize standardized innovations, and yield bounded post-shock recovery. More broadly, the framework provides a reference for deep-space guidance and control under nonlinear, multi-field disturbances and for planetary-defense concepts involving attitude shaping or impulsive kinetic impact. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_16982 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Trajectory Stability and Signature Diagnostics for Comet-Based Interstellar Navigation Andrée, Bo Pieter Johannes Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Dynamical Systems Applications 93D20, 70F15, 37N05 Interstellar objects (ISOs) motivate a coupled mission-design and inference question relevant to spacecraft dynamics and control in extreme environments: if volatile-rich, rotating comet-like bodies were used for sustained deep-space navigation by exploiting pre-existing hyperbolic motion and in-situ propellant, what stability requirements arise under non-gravitational forcing, and what astrometric signatures might distinguish active stabilization from uncontrolled natural dynamics? We develop a stability-theoretic framework for trajectory tracking with jet-actuated correction, and show that high-speed transit geometry -- including debris-belt avoidance and encounter phasing -- tightly constrains feasible trajectories, making long-horizon tracking stability mission-critical. We model tracking residuals as the balance of disturbances and corrective action, and derive stability conditions across four levels: disturbance-energy stability, outer-loop contraction, actuator-memory stability, and rotation-mediated (Floquet) stability. The analysis implies residual diagnostics that can motivate empirical tests: under comparable forcing, effective stabilization is expected to strengthen short-horizon error correction, reduce event-conditioned persistence and variance clustering, regularize standardized innovations, and yield bounded post-shock recovery. More broadly, the framework provides a reference for deep-space guidance and control under nonlinear, multi-field disturbances and for planetary-defense concepts involving attitude shaping or impulsive kinetic impact. |
| title | Trajectory Stability and Signature Diagnostics for Comet-Based Interstellar Navigation |
| topic | Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Dynamical Systems Applications 93D20, 70F15, 37N05 |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.16982 |