Time- and orientation-free Δ V optimal transfers are used to investigate optimal rendezvous orbits for cooperative systems of two and more spacecraft. The problem of finding total Δ V optimal cooperative rendezvous orbits is formulated and solved as a nonlinear programming problem using analytic expressions for optimal orbit transfer Δ V costs. Each spacecraft has propulsive abilities, and optimal rendezvous orbits are found for planar (match semimajor axis and eccentricity) and three-dimensional (match semimajor axis, eccentricity, and inclination) scenarios. The Δ V costs found for this type of rendezvous are lower-bound costs for finite-time full rendezvous where all spacecraft would have matching sets of all six orbit elements. This lower-bound Δ V cost, which is realizable for full rendezvous given infinite time and secular J 2 perturbations, is shown to be also realizable for finite-time full rendezvous if certain initial conditions can be met. Finally, application of the cooperative rendezvous problem to constellation deployment is briefly discussed.


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    Title :

    Minimum Bounds on Multispacecraft Δ V Optimal Cooperative Rendezvous


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2020-08-18


    Size :

    16 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English





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