Solar Wing Steering Law for Satellite Formation Flight

Abstract

Satellite formation flight missions have long durations, so long-term perturbation effects (such as the J 2 effect) must be countered to maintain the formation. One possible approach to this problem is to affix a small reflective surface (called a "solar wing") to the satellite solar radiation pressure can then be harnessed to maintain formation flight. In this paper a lull dynamic model for the long-term relative motion of formation flight is formulated, and an optimal solar wing steering law is devised for the formation-keeping problem. A numerical example is given to illustrate the approach.