Date of Award
4-1997
Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
Degree Name
Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering
Department
Aerospace Engineering
Committee Chair
Dr. Yechiel Crispin
Committee Member
Dr. Habib Esfami
Committee Member
Dr. Seenith Sivasundaram
Abstract
The minimum fuel rendezvous problem between several power-limited low-thrust spacecraft neighboring either a circular or an elliptic orbit is investigated. Both cooperative and non cooperative maneuvers are studied. The maximum principle of Pontryagin is applied to the optimal control rendezvous problem of several spacecraft. The gravitational field models investigated are the Clohessy-Wiltshire field and the inverse-square gravity field. Numerical solutions using a shooting method and the finite difference method are used in order to determine the trajectories of the spacecraft. Unlike previous investigations, this work is not restricted to a rendezvous of two spacecraft around a circular orbit, but a few vehicles will be able to rendezvous in space at a fixed-final time, both about a circular orbit and about an elliptic orbit.
Scholarly Commons Citation
Guerre, Virginie, "Cooperative Power-Limited Optimal Rendezvous Between Many Spacecraft" (1997). Master's Theses - Daytona Beach. 74.
https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/74
