arXiv subjects

Quentin Rommel

Publications and source records attributed to Quentin Rommel.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Cislunar Pursuit-Evasion Game on Periodic and Quasi-Periodic Orbits

Cislunar spacecraft operate in nonlinear and unstable environments that make defensive maneuver planning difficult. We formulate cislunar spacecraft pursuit and evasion as a zero-sum differential game in the circular restricted three-body problem. Each spacecraft controls its thrust and reference orbit phase, enabling motion along periodic orbits and across quasi-periodic tori while remaining near the reference. We solve the game using a constrained discrete-time differential dynamic programming method that enforces hard input constraints. We propose a shared time regularization to synchronize both spacecraft while refining the discretization near close lunar passages. Numerical results on periodic and quasi-periodic orbits show that phase control improves maneuvering flexibility while limiting departure from the reference orbit. The discrete-time method also provides a large computational advantage over a continuous-time formulation. Comparisons between quasi-halo and quasi-near-rectilinear halo orbits show that close lunar passages create larger escape opportunities but also increase the sensitivity of the encounter. These results show that reference orbit geometry is an important part of defensive cislunar mission design.

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arXiv2025

Adversarial Pursuits in Cislunar Space

Cislunar space is becoming a critical domain for future lunar and interplanetary missions, yet its remoteness, sparse infrastructure, and unstable dynamics create single points of failure. Adversaries in cislunar orbits can exploit these vulnerabilities to pursue and jam co-located communication relays, potentially severing communications between lunar missions and the Earth. We study a pursuit-evasion scenario between two spacecraft in a cislunar orbit, where the evader must avoid a pursuer-jammer while remaining close to its nominal trajectory. We model the evader-pursuer interaction as a zero-sum adversarial differential game cast in the circular restricted three-body problem. This formulation incorporates critical aspects of cislunar orbital dynamics, including autonomous adjustment of the reference orbit phasing to enable aggressive evading maneuvers, and shaping of the evader's cost with the orbit's stable and unstable manifolds. We solve the resulting nonlinear game locally using a continuous-time differential dynamic programming variant, which iteratively applies linear-quadratic approximations to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation. We simulate the evader's behavior against both a worst-case and a linear-quadratic pursuer. Our results pave the way for securing future missions in cislunar space against emerging cyber threats.

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arXiv2025

Function Spaces Without Kernels: Learning Compact Hilbert Space Representations

Function encoders are a recent technique that learn neural network basis functions to form compact, adaptive representations of Hilbert spaces of functions. We show that function encoders provide a principled connection to feature learning and kernel methods by defining a kernel through an inner product of the learned feature map. This kernel-theoretic perspective explains their ability to scale independently of dataset size while adapting to the intrinsic structure of data, and it enables kernel-style analysis of neural models. Building on this foundation, we develop two training algorithms that learn compact bases: a progressive training approach that constructively grows bases, and a train-then-prune approach that offers a computationally efficient alternative after training. Both approaches use principles from PCA to reveal the intrinsic dimension of the learned space. In parallel, we derive finite-sample generalization bounds using Rademacher complexity and PAC-Bayes techniques, providing inference time guarantees. We validate our approach on a polynomial benchmark with a known intrinsic dimension, and on nonlinear dynamical systems including a Van der Pol oscillator and a two-body orbital model, demonstrating that the same accuracy can be achieved with substantially fewer basis functions. This work suggests a path toward neural predictors with kernel-level guarantees, enabling adaptable models that are both efficient and principled at scale.

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arXiv2025

Optimal Satellite Maneuvers for Spaceborne Jamming Attacks

Satellites are becoming exceedingly critical for communication, making them prime targets for cyber-physical attacks. We consider a rogue satellite in low Earth orbit that jams the uplink communication between another satellite and a ground station. To achieve maximal interference with minimal fuel consumption, the jammer carefully maneuvers itself relative to the target satellite's antenna. We cast this maneuvering objective as a two-stage optimal control problem, involving i) repositioning to an efficient jamming position before uplink communication commences; and ii) maintaining an efficient jamming position after communication has started. We obtain the optimal maneuvering trajectories for the jammer and perform simulations to show how they enable the disruption of uplink communication with reasonable fuel consumption.

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arXiv2025

Verifiable Mission Planning For Space Operations

Spacecraft must operate under environmental and actuator uncertainties while meeting strict safety requirements. Traditional approaches rely on scenario-based heuristics that fail to account for stochastic influences, leading to suboptimal or unsafe plans. We propose a finite-horizon, chance-constrained Markov decision process for mission planning, where states represent mission and vehicle parameters, actions correspond to operational adjustments, and temporal logic specifications encode operational reach-avoid constraints. We synthesize policies that optimize mission objectives while ensuring constraints are met with high probability. Applied to the GRACE-FO mission, the approach accounts for stochastic solar activity and uncertain thrust performance, yielding maneuver schedules that maximize scientific return and provably satisfy safety requirements. We demonstrate how Markov decision processes can be applied to space missions, enabling autonomous operation with formal guarantees.

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