On Nominal Formation Flying Orbit with a Small Solar System Body

Abstract

It is very difficult for an explorer to orbit a low-mass and irregularly shaped small body in the solar system. In this case, formation flying with the small body is a workable solution. This paper discusses two strategies of formation flying based on two different dynamic models. The orbit resulted from the C–W equation and the halo orbit around libration point L1 in the Circular Restricted Three-body Problem (CRTBP) are considered as nominal orbit respectively. Numerical simulation indicates the effect of the magnitude of μ on the stability and other features of the halo orbits, where μ is a parameter weighing the gravity of the small body. The result shows that the CRTBP is more fuel-saving and therefore a more appropriate dynamic model for solving the formation flying problem. This paper also works out a dynamic model involving solar radiation pressure. Simulation result shows that, in this condition, the C–W equation has no significant advantage.