Use of the Lyapunov Functions for Calculating the Locally Optimal Control of a Thrust Vector during Low-Thrust Interorbital Transfer

Abstract

Abstract—: This paper presents a method for locally optimal control of the thrust vector of the electric propulsion system (EPS) for a spacecraft that performs a multiturn interorbital transfer from the initial elliptical orbit into a geostationary orbit (GSO). The control represents the time dependences of the angles that characterize the EPS thrust vector orientation in space. Here, it is assumed that the EPS is always on. The proposed control algorithm belongs to the class of feedback control algorithms and is based on using the Lyapunov functions. Numerical examples are presented, which characterize the operability of the proposed control technique. Considerable attention is paid to the comparison of given solutions with the optimal solutions obtained within the framework of the maximum principle formalism.