Formation establishment, maintenance, and control

Abstract

This chapter presents continuous and impulsive control methods for formation initialization, maintenance, and reconfiguration. For two-body, circular reference orbits, elementary impulsive control schemes are developed based on the available state transition matrix for relative motion. Formation propagation and control models are presented in the space of differential orbital elements and Cartesian/curvilinear coordinate systems. The J 2-perturbation effects are conveniently modeled with the mean elements and their secular drift rates. Methods for accommodating the disturbance due to the J 2 by modification of the relative orbit initial conditions are discussed. Examples provided include multi-impulse optimal formation initialization maneuvers and a novel inter-satellite fuel balancing concept.