A computationally efficient algorithm is developed for onboard planning of n -impulse fuel-optimal maneuvers for establishment and reconfiguration of spacecraft formations. The method is valid in circular and elliptic orbits and includes first-order secular J 2 effects. The dynamics are expressed in terms of differential mean orbital elements, and relations are provided to allow the formation designer to transform these into intuitive geometric quantities for visualization and analysis. The maneuver targeting problem is formulated as an optimal control problem in both continuous and discrete time. The continuous-time formulation cannot be solved directly in an efficient manner, and the discrete-time formulation, which has an analytical solution, does not directly yield the optimal thrust times. Therefore, a new flight-suitable algorithm is designed by iteratively solving the discrete-time formulation while using the continuous-time necessary conditions to refine the thrust times until they converge to the optimal values. Simulation results illustrate the performance for a variety of reconfiguration maneuvers and reference orbits, including examples for the NASA CubeSat Proximity Operations Demonstration mission.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Formation Establishment and Reconfiguration Using Differential Elements in J2-Perturbed Orbits



    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2015-07-23


    Size :

    16 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English





    Formation establishment and reconfiguration using differential elements in J2-perturbed orbits

    Roscoe, Christopher W. T. / Westphal, Jason J. / Griesbach, Jacob D. et al. | IEEE | 2014



    Optimal Continuous Maneuvers for Satellite Formation Reconfiguration in J2-perturbed Orbits

    Di Mauro, Giuseppe / Spiller, Dario / Bevilacqua, Riccardo et al. | AIAA | 2018


    Optimal Continuous Maneuvers for Satellite Formation Reconfiguration in J2-perturbed Orbits (AIAA 2018-0216)

    Di Mauro, Giuseppe / Spiller, Dario / Bevilacqua, Riccardo et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2018