The control distance metric and constraints on maneuvering satellites

Changes in the orbit of a space-based object are a characteristic of a maneuver having occurred or of mismodeling of the state dynamics. This paper focuses on the former hypothesis to evaluate what constraints and inferences can be made on the actions of a vehicle given minimal information on its change in state. Such information can generally be used to evaluate whether a maneuver was likely, place constraints on the size of the maneuver, and can be used to reconstruct what form a maneuver took. This paper reviews what can be inferred from a difference in an object's orbital state through the definition and application of the control distance metric.