Concurrent co-location maneuver planning for geostationary satellites

Abstract

This paper details the development of a planning algorithm for multiple co-located geostationary satellites to perform station keeping and momentum unloading maneuvers concurrently. The objective is to minimize the overall fuel consumption while guaranteeing a safe separation distance between the satellites within a specific geostationary slot, as well as managing their stored angular momentum to maintain their nadir pointing orientation. The algorithm adopts the leader-follower architecture to define relative orbital elements of the satellites equipped with four gimbaled on-off electric thrusters, and solves a convex optimization problem with inequality constraints, including momentum unloading requirements, to determine the optimal maneuvers. The proposed algorithm is verified, in terms of fuel consumption, constraints enforcement and satellites performance, using numerical simulations that take into account dominant perturbations in the geostationary environment.