Safe rendezvous scenario design for geostationary satellites with collocation constraints

Rendezvous on the geostationary orbit (GEO) is much more complex than that on the low earth orbit and has a higher critical requirement for safety performance. This paper presents a safe scenario design method for GEO rendezvous proximity missions where the safety constraint of a collocated satellite is considered. A recently proposed quantitative index considering trajectory uncertainty is introduced to analyze the safety performance of the scenario parameters including the V-bar keeping positions and the fly-by trajectory radius. Furthermore, an exhaustive analysis is performed to find the dangerous regions of the V-bar keeping positions and the appropriate semi-major axis of the fly-by ellipse, considering the safety requirements of both the target and the collocated satellite. A geometry method is then developed for designing a feasible and suboptimal safe rendezvous scenario. The method is tested by designing four rendezvous scenarios with ±V-bar approach directions respectively in the situations with and without one collocated satellite. Safety performance and velocity increments of the scenarios are compared and a conclusion is reached that the collocated satellite has a significant influence on the scenario design.

[1]  John L. Goodman,et al.  History of Space Shuttle Rendezvous and Proximity Operations , 2006 .

[2]  Hua Wang,et al.  Quantitative Performance for Spacecraft Rendezvous Trajectory Safety , 2011 .

[3]  W. H. Clohessy,et al.  Terminal Guidance System for Satellite Rendezvous , 2012 .

[4]  Russell P. Patera,et al.  Satellite Collision Probability for Nonlinear Relative Motion , 2002 .

[5]  Guo-Jin Tang,et al.  Safety-Optimal Linearized Impulsive Rendezvous with Trajectory Uncertainties , 2014 .

[6]  Pini Gurfil,et al.  Optimal Geostationary Satellite Collocation Using Relative Orbital Element Corrections , 2009 .

[7]  Bing Li,et al.  A universal on-orbit servicing system used in the geostationary orbit , 2011 .

[8]  Wigbert Fehse,et al.  Automated Rendezvous and Docking of Spacecraft , 2003 .

[9]  Guo-Jin Tang,et al.  Optimal Multi-Objective Nonlinear Impulsive Rendezvous , 2007 .

[10]  Ya-Zhong Luo,et al.  Spacecraft rendezvous trajectory safety quantitative performance index eliminating probability dilution , 2014 .

[11]  Felix Huber,et al.  On-Orbit Servicing Missions: Challenges and Solutions for Spacecraft Operations , 2010 .

[12]  Hengni An Li.  Geostationary Satellites Collocation , 2014 .

[13]  Jonathan P. How,et al.  Safe Trajectories for Autonomous Rendezvous of Spacecraft , 2006 .

[14]  D. A. Smith,et al.  A mission to preserve the geostationary region , 2004 .

[15]  Tom Mulder,et al.  Orbital Express Autonomous Rendezvous and Capture Flight Operations, Part 2 of 2: AR&C Exercise 4,5, and End-Of-Life , 2008 .

[16]  JiSheng Li,et al.  Mathematical prototypes for collocating geostationary satellites , 2013 .

[17]  Xiuyun Meng,et al.  Suboptimal Power-Limited Rendezvous with Fixed Docking Direction and Collision Avoidance , 2013 .

[18]  Alireza Doostan,et al.  Satellite collision probability estimation using polynomial chaos expansions , 2013 .

[19]  Guillermo Ortega,et al.  Ground guided CX-OLEV rendez-vous with uncooperative geostationary satellite , 2006 .

[20]  Paul V. Anderson,et al.  Local orbital debris flux study in the geostationary ring , 2012 .

[21]  Jun Zheng,et al.  A preliminary study on dead geostationary satellite removal , 2010 .

[22]  Brent W. Barbee,et al.  A Guidance and Navigation Strategy for Rendezvous and Proximity Operations with a Noncooperative Spacecraft in Geosynchronous Orbit , 2011 .

[23]  Jin Zhang,et al.  Survey of orbital dynamics and control of space rendezvous , 2014 .