2017/09/29 by Emmanuel Sin, Murat Arcak, Sin, Emmanuel +3
Engineering · #FOS: Electrical engineering #Space Satellite Systems and Control #Spacecraft Design and Technology #Spacecraft Dynamics and Control #Systems and Control (eess.SY) #electronic engineering #information engineering
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1710.00104
openalex publication_date 2017/09/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study the optimal control of an arbitrarily large constellation of small satellites operating in low Earth orbit. Simulating the lack of on-board propulsion, we limit our actuation to the use of differential drag maneuvers to make in-plane changes to the satellite orbits. We propose an efficient method to separate a cluster of satellites into a desired constellation shape while respecting actuation constraints and maximizing the operational lifetime of the constellation. By posing the problem as a linear program, we solve for the optimal drag commands for each of the satellites on a daily basis with a shrinking-horizon model predictive control approach. We then apply this control strategy in a nonlinear orbital dynamics simulation with a simple, varying atmospheric density model. We demonstrate the ability to control a cluster of 100+ satellites starting at the same initial conditions in a circular low Earth orbit to form an equally spaced constellation (with a relative angular separation error tolerance of one-tenth a degree). The constellation separation task can be executed in 71 days, a time frame that is competitive for the state-of-the-practice. This method allows us to trade the time required to converge to the desired constellation with a sacrifice in the overall constellation lifetime, measured as the maximum altitude loss experienced by one of the satellites in the group after the separation maneuvers.