Author(s)

Yi Lu¹, Yu Sun¹, Xiyun Hou², Yunhe Meng³

¹State Key Laboratory of Astronautic Dynamics, China Xi’an Satellite Control Center, Xi’an, China.
²School of Astronomy & Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
³Tianqin Research Center for Gravitational Physics, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China.

This paper presents the methods and results for the trajectory design and optimization for the low earth orbit (LEO) satellites in formation to observe the geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites’ beams. The background of the trajectory design mission is the 9^th China Trajectory Optimization Competition (CTOC9). The formation is designed according to the observation demands. The flying sequence is determined by a reference satellite using a proposed improved ephemeris matching method (IEMM). The formation is changed, maintained and transferred following the reference satellite employing a multi-impulse control method (MICM). Then the total observation value is computed by propagating the orbits of the satellites according to the sequence and transfer strategies. Based on the above methods, we have obtained a fourth prize in the CTOC9. The proposed methods are not only fit for this competition, but can also be used to fulfill the trajectory design missions for similar multi-object explorations.

Trajectory Design, Global Optimization, Formation Flying, Flying Sequence, Formation Maintaining

Lu, Y. , Sun, Y. , Hou, X. and Meng, Y. (2018) Trajectory Design and Optimization for LEO Satellites in Formation to Observe GEO Satellites’ Beams. International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 8, 368-385. doi: 10.4236/ijaa.2018.84026.