State-of-the-art and prospects for orbital dynamics and control near small celestial bodies

Abstract

Small celestial body exploration is one of the key areas of deep space exploration in the future. The orbital dynamics and control problem near small celestial bodies is crucial in such explorations, and urgent to be treated. This problem involves the modeling of dynamics environment around an irregularshaped small celestial body, and the orbital dynamics mechanism near the small celestial body. In this paper, we survey the gravitational field modeling of irregular-shaped small celestial body, natural orbital dynamics and control, and controlled orbital dynamics near small celestial body. We introduce state-ofthe-art and trends for the development of orbital dynamics and control near small celestial bodies. The challenges and difficulties encountered are analyzed. Finally, we discuss the prospects for the development direction and key issues of orbital dynamics and control for Chinese future mission for exploring small celestial bodies.