• Professor, Aerospace Engineering
  • Jack E. and Frances Brown Chair II
  • University Distinguished Professor
  • Member, National Academy of Engineering
Terry Alfriend profile photo

Educational Background

  • Ph.D., Engineering Mechanics, Virginia Tech -1967
  • M.S., Engineering Mechanics, Stanford University - 1964
  • B.S., Engineering Mechanics, Virginia Tech - 1962

Research Interests

    • Astrodynamics
    • Satellite Altitude Dynamics and Control
    • Space Debris
    • Space Surveillance
    • Space Systems Engineering

Awards & Honors

  • Goddard Astronautics Award, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics - 2022
  • Aerospace Engineering Academy of Excellence, Virginia Tech - 2022

Selected Publications

  • Eapen, R. T., Howell, K. C., & Alfriend, K. T., “Momentum Maps and Transport Mechanisms in the Planar Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem,” Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, 69, Pages 1263-1291, October 2022
  • Zeng, X., Wen, T., Li, Z., & Alfriend, K. T., “Natural Landing Simulations on Generated Local Rocky Terrains for Asteroid Cubic Lander,” IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 58 (4), Pages 3492-3508, August 2022
  • Mahajan, B., Alfriend, K.T., “Analytic orbit theory with any arbitrary spherical harmonic as the dominant perturbation,” Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, 133, 25, May 2021
  • Prabhu, K., Majji, M., & Alfriend, K. T., “Least Sum of Absolute Residuals Orbit Determination,” Journal of Guidance Control and Dynamics, 45 (3), Pages 468-480, October 2021
  • Eapen, R. T., Majji, M., & Alfriend, K. T., “Attitude dynamics of a rigid body in Keplerian motion,” Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, 133, 2, January 2021
  • Mahajan, B., & Alfriend, K. T., “Analytic orbit theory with any arbitrary spherical harmonic as the dominant perturbation,” Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, 131 (10), 45, September 2019
  • Mahajan, B., Vadali, S. R., & Alfriend, K. T., “State-Transition Matrix for Satellite Relative Motion in the Presence of Gravitational Perturbations,” Journal of Guidance Control and Dynamics, 42 (7), Pages 1441-1457, February 2019
  • Mahajan, B., Vadali, S. R., & Alfriend, K. T., “Exact Delaunay normalization of the perturbed Keplerian Hamiltonian with tesseral harmonics,” Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, 130 (3), 25, March 2018