In this paper, a solution to the formation initialization (FI) problem for N distributed spacecraft located in deep space is presented. The solution is based on a three-phase sky search procedure that reduces the formation initialization problem for N distributed spacecraft to the simpler problem of initializing a set of sub-formations. An analytical proof demonstrating that the algorithm guarantees formation initialization for N spacecraft constrained to a plane is presented. An upper bound on the time to initialize a planar formation is also provided. Finally, the FI algorithm is demonstrated in simulation using NASA’s five-spacecraft Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission as an example.


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    Title :

    Initialization of Distributed Spacecraft Formations


    Additional title:

    J of Astronaut Sci


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2004-12-01


    Size :

    21 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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