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Low-thrust under-actuated satellite formation guidance and control strategies

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This study presents autonomous guidance and control strategies for reconfiguring close-range multi-satellite formations. The formation consists of N under-actuated deputy satellites and an uncontrolled virtual or physical chief spacecraft. Each deputy is equipped with a single throttleable but ungimbaled low-thrust nozzle, requiring a combination of thrust and coast arcs, during the latter attitude adjustments redirect the nozzle to the desired thrust direction. The guidance problem is formulated as a trajectory optimization task incorporating dynamical and physical constraints, along with a minimum acceleration threshold imposed by typical electric thrusters . Two frameworks are considered: centralized and distributed. The centralized approach ensures fuel-optimal solutions but is feasible only for small formations, with all calculations performed on a physical chief satellite. The distributed approach, while sub-optimal, scales better by treating the chief as a virtual point mass and allowing each deputy to handle its own computations. This study focuses on spaceborne closed-loop control implementation, ensuring reliability and automation in solving the optimal control problem . To mitigate infeasibility risks, constraints that pose potential threats are identified and softened. Two Model Predictive Control architectures, shrinking-horizon and fixed-horizon, are implemented and compared in terms of fuel consumption and control accuracy. Their performance is analyzed for typical close-range reconfigurations required in Earth observation missions and benchmarked against existing approaches in the literature.
DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.02.048
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,350
OpenAlex ID: W4408966773
FWCI: 1.939
Cites: 35
Cited by: 5
Related to: 10