Impulsive spacecraft formation control using orbital energy and angular momentum vector

Abstract

This paper presents a multi-impulsive formation control strategy using orbit energy-matching and relative angular momentum vector between leader and follower satellites. These conservative parameters (energy and angular momentum) provide analytical and global solutions for orbital maneuver design without relying on Gauss Variational Equations. The relationship with orbit element differences is discussed in the simplifying assumptions. The proposed approach is free from small variation assumptions, so that it is suitable for handling even the case of large error corrections. General limitations of impulsive control and associated compensation maneuvers are also addressed.