Orbital Rendezvous via a General Nonsingular Method

Abstract

This paper develops a general method to execute orbital rendezvous in continuation of previous work, where a spacecraft’s orbit was represented using the angular momentum and eccentricity vectors of the orbit, along with the orbital energy. A discrete feedback control method using this orbit representation that can be used to autonomously maneuver to arbitrary target orbits is designed. Full rendezvous is accomplished in two distinct phases: orbit matching and a phasing maneuver, which match the five-degree-of-freedom orbit and along-track position, respectively. Once within a short distance of the target position, the spacecraft could enter a close-proximity mode if higher precision is required, such as for docking. The method is verified in simulations, and the usage is compared to two-impulse transfer and rendezvous and continuous low-thrust trajectories. Effects of perturbations are also examined quantitatively. The developed control method is shown to give similar expenditure to unbounded impulsive maneuvers while being applicable to arbitrary orbits, as it avoids singularities or linearizing the dynamics. It is usable by small spacecraft using infrequent, impulsive actuation, which may improve the feasibility and robustness of small spacecraft missions.