Abstract Formation flying of spacecraft in orbit around the Earth and in deep space is becoming an enabling technology for a number of space mission concepts. One such concept is separated spacecraft interferometry, a technique to be used by ESA’s Darwin planet finding mission. In this paper, a maneuver planning algorithm is introduced designed to find the post-maneuver spacecraft positions that satisfy interferometry science goals whilst optimizing for fuel use or fuel balancing considerations. Compared to a benchmark planning algorithm gains of up to 23% less fuel for fuel minimizing maneuvers and a significant increase in fuel balancing for fuel balancing maneuvers are observed using Darwin-like mission parameters.


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    Title :

    Maneuver planning optimization for spacecraft formation flying missions


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2008-12-01


    Size :

    27 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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