Nonplanar LEO‐LEO aeroassisted space rendezvous

Purpose – In order to solve nonplanar LEO‐LEO aeroassisted space rendezvous, this paper aims to study an active phasing method based on orbital preliminary adjusting scheme out of atmosphere.Design/methodology/approach – In order to add atmospheric entry velocity, orbital preliminary adjusting out of atmosphere is presented and the orbital altitude of high earth orbit (HEO) is selected eclectically. Nonplanar HEO‐LEO aeroassisted orbital transfer problem is studied in detail. According to the standard atmospheric flight trajectory, the locations of deorbit points in HEO are determined and the standard phase angle between orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) in HEO and target in low earth orbit (LEO) is obtained so that OTV and target meet space rendezvous demand. Finally, the active phasing method is studied so that the standard phase angle can be satisfied when OTV is transferred to HEO. So space rendezvous can be realized under the help of aeroassisted orbital transfer technique once the standard phase angle ...