Application of Mean-Motion-Based Artificial Potentials for a Cluster Flight Mission Scenario

Cluster flight is one of the key technologies that are required to enable the deployment of distributed space systems. Through the concept of cluster flight, a large monolithic structure can be replaced with multiple smaller spacecraft, permitting to overcome physical limitations and improve mission performance. To ensure a safe relative motion between several objects that fly in proximity, the guidance and control algorithm must be designed in order to be scalable, autonomous, and responsive. A technique to meet these requirements by employing the method of the artificial potentials is presented in this paper. For a cluster of spacecraft that are distributed in the along-track direction in a leader-follower manner, the relative distances can be altered by focusing and adjusting the mean motion of the spacecraft. An artificial-potential-based approach can be used to evaluate corrections of the semi-major axes by only reacting on the current configuration, with no need to perform trajectory predictions.