Optimal scheduling of multispacecraft refueling based on cooperative maneuver

Abstract The scheduling of multispacecraft refueling based on cooperative maneuver in a circular orbit is studied in this paper. In the proposed scheme, both of the single service vehicle (SSV) and the target satellite (TS) perform the orbital transfer to complete the rendezvous at the service places. When a TS is refueled by the SSV, it returns to its original working slot to continue its normal function. In this way, the SSV refuels the TS one by one. A MINLP model for the mission is first built, then a two-level hybrid optimization approach is proposed for determining the strategy, and the optimal solution is successfully obtained by using an algorithm which is a combination of Multi-island Genetic Algorithm and Sequential Quadratic Programming. Results show the cooperative strategy can save around 27.31% in fuel, compared with the non-cooperative strategy in which only the SSV would maneuver in the example considered. Three conclusions can be drawn based on the numerical simulations for the evenly distributed constellations. Firstly, in the cooperative strategy one of the service positions is the initial location of the SSV, other service positions are also target slots, i.e. not all targets need to maneuver, and there may be more than one TS serviced in a given service position. Secondly, the efficiency gains for the cooperative strategy are higher for larger transferred fuel mass. Thirdly, the cooperative strategy is less efficient for targets with larger spacecraft mass.