AAS 97-623
AUTOMATED STATIONKEEPING FOR SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS
N.H. Shah, R.J. Proulx, P.J. Cefola, and J. Draim - The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory
Abstract
The on-orbit control of future satellite constellations poses a great challenge. New approaches are required which result in viable control systems that are flexible, reliable, and efficient. This work develops and tests a new methodology for the automated station-keeping of satellite constellations. Multiple station-keeping strategies are proposed and studied, with the use of a constellation station-keeping simulation. Specifically, simulations are conducted to analyze the control and coverage characteristics of the Ellipso constellation. In addition, three proposed Lyapunov non-linear control strategies are developed mathematically. The Automated Station-Keeping Simulator (ASKS), created for this project, combines an optimal n-impulse rendezvous element to provide automated station-keeping for a constellation of satellites using realistic satellite dynamics calculations on a distributed network of workstations.