Study on relative orbital configuration in satellite formation flying

Abstract

In this paper, the relative orbital configurations of satellites in formation flying with non-perturbation and J2 perturbation are studied, and an orbital elements method is proposed to obtain the relative orbital configurations of satellites in formation. Firstly, under the condition of non-perturbation, we obtain many shapes of relative orbital configurations when the semi-major axes of satellites are equal. These shapes can be lines, ellipses or distorted closed curves. Secondly, on the basis of the analysis of J2 effect on relative orbital configurations, we find out that J2 effect can induce two kinds of changes of relative orbital configurations. They are distortion and drifting, respectively. In addition, when J2 perturbation is concerned, we also find that the semi-major axes of the leading and following satellites should not be the same exactly in order to decrease the J2 effect. The relationship of relative orbital elements and J2 effect is obtained through simulations. Finally, the minimum relation perturbation conditions are established in order to reduce the influence of the J2 effect. The results show that the minimum relation perturbation conditions can reduce the J2 effect significantly when the orbital element differences are small enough, and they can become rules for the design of satellite formation flying.