Active Formation Flying Along an Elliptic Orbit

Abstract

T HE relative motion of a follower satellite with respect to the leader in a given circular orbit is described by autonomous nonlinear differential equations. The linearized equations around the null solution are known as Hill–Clohessy–Wiltshire (HCW) equations [1–3]. The HCWequations were used by many authors to study rendezvous problems (see [4] and references therein). The Tschauner–Hempel (TH) equations replace the HCW equations, when the orbit of the leader is eccentric [2,5]. Rendezvous problems along an eccentric orbit were studied in [4,5]. The HCW equations possess periodic solutions, which are useful as temporary orbits before mission and for proximity operations such as inspection and repair. The leader–follower formation and reconfiguration problems based on the periodic solutions were studied bymany authors [6–10]. The TH equations also have periodic solutions. They are characterized by Inalhan et al. [11], and the initialization procedure to periodic motion is given. Periodic solutions also follow from the transition matrix of the TH system given byYamanaka and Ankersen [12]. The effects of eccentricity on the shape and size of relative orbits are studied by Sengupta andVadali [13]. Periodic solutions of the TH equations are used for formation flying [14,15] because no control efforts are needed to maintain them. However, their period is fixed and is equal to that of the leader orbit, which would be inconvenient for a quick inspection of the leader. The shape of periodic solutions is irregular compared with that of the HCWequations, which would be undesirable for some missions. In this Note, active formation flying for the TH system is considered, in which the desired relative orbit of the follower is generated by an exosystem. This allows for flexibility of the shape and period of the reference orbit. Typical examples are elliptic relative orbits of the HCWequations with higher frequencies. Formation flying for the TH system with generated reference orbits has not been studied in the literature. To realize such a formation flying, the output regulation theory for linear periodic systems recently given by Ichikawa and Katayama [16] is employed. Output regulation covers tracking and disturbance rejection [17], but the tracking aspect of the theory is used. The regulator equation, which is necessary to achieve output regulation, is a differential equationwith periodic coefficients. The main contribution of this Note is to show that the regulator equation can be solved algebraically if the system is in the controllable canonical form and the observation matrix is of a special form. To achieve asymptotic tracking, stabilizing feedback controls are necessary. They are designed by the differential Riccati equation (DRE) of the linear quadratic regulator theory [18]. To show the effectiveness of this approach, two examples are given. In the first example, the orbit of the leader is assumed to be circular and the HCW equations are considered. The reference orbit of the follower for formation flying is circularwith arbitrary frequency. Starting from a periodic solution of the HCW equations, the follower satellite is asymptotically steered to the reference orbit. In this case, both the regulator equation and theRiccati equation become algebraic. TheL1 norm of the input ΔV and the settling time are given as functions of the weight parameter in the Riccati equation. The L1 norm of the input to maintain the reference orbit for one period is also calculated. These performance indices are further examined by varying the frequency of the reference orbit. The second example is concerned with the TH equations for the elliptic leader orbit. The reference relative orbit of the follower is circular, as in the first example. The regulator equation has periodic coefficients, but it is algebraically solved and explicitly given. The DRE is solved backward and the stabilizing periodic solution is obtained. TheL1 normof the input and the settling time are computed by varying eccentricity and frequency of the reference orbit.