Spacecraft Formation Flying

Chapter 4

Nonlinear Models of Relative Dynamics

Publisher Summary

This chapter presents commonly used nonlinear models for relative perturbed and unperturbed motion. The chapter presents a variety of models for simulating relative motion in perturbed or unperturbed elliptic orbits. In the absence of perturbations, bounded relative motion between any two spacecrafts in elliptic Keplerian orbits can be straightforwardly found from the energy matching condition. This chapter suggests a rather simple method for generating bounded relative motion between any two spacecrafts for unperturbed Keplerian motion. The underlying methodology relies on the concept of orbital-period commensurability. The chapter presents a single-impulse formation-keeping method ...