Date of Award

3-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

John M. Colombi, PhD

Abstract

Modern defense systems are designed to static sets of requirements and specifications. This process has worked well in the past but fails to account for the strategic interdependence of design choices made prior to operating systems. However, as the world becomes increasingly competitive, and as the space domain becomes increasingly congested and contested, such interdependence of design can be described using Game Theory. Game Theory is the mathematical study of strategy, actions and payoffs between rational, self-interested actors. Limited extant research has applied Game Theory to system design but focused on a single system being designed cooperatively within a single company and incorporated regression derived payoffs. This research extended Game Theory Based Design to non-cooperative red vs. blue actors designing their own systems and incorporated physics-based simulation to determine payoffs. The hypothesized scenario has blue conducting Space Situational Awareness from a polar geosynchronous orbit, and red conducting geosynchronous proximity operations. The output from this AGI System Tool Kit (STK) simulation allows analysis of any Nash Equilibria of the satellite designs. Results indicate Game Theory can be applied to the design of U.S. Space systems to account for strategic interdependence between non-cooperative or hostile nations.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENV-MS-21-M-219

DTIC Accession Number

AD1136736

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