Abstract
The relative orbital motion problem of a deputy spacecraft with respect to a chief spacecraft is, generally, described using a set of differential equations governing the motion of the spacecraft relative to each other instead of describing their motion, separately, relative to the Earth. In this paper, new time-varying, time periodic cubic approximation model of spacecraft relative motion is developed from the original nonlinear relative equations of motion with the chief in elliptical orbit. Afterwards, averaging method is applied to the cubic model to obtain asymptotic approximations and periodic solutions. The formulation of the averaging solutions using averaging method affords us the opportunity to have a better insight of the relative motion dynamics. From the numerical simulations, the averaging model is in close agreement with the nonlinear model. This can be attributed to the inclusion of cubic nonlinear terms. The model is amenable to the long-term prediction of the behavior of the relative motion and useful for spacecraft formation flying analysis.
Published Version
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