GEOSTATIONARY STATION‐KEEPING BY ION THRUSTERS: GENETIC ALGORITHMS OPTIMIZATION

The orbital control of geostationary satellites requires the periodic execution of manoeuvres for gravitational and solar radiation perturbation compensation. To maintain a fine control of the satellite position, it is usually sufficient to perform orbit corrections every two weeks, firing chemical thrusters. The operational load for the manoeuvre's planning and execution is usually quite low. Innovative technologies for station-keeping are available now, based on high efficiency ion thrusters, which allow a significant propellant saving. They are included in Artemis, a telecommunications satellite developed by the European Space Agency. When low acceleration ion thrusters are adopted, a near continuous orbit control is required; the resulting long firing arcs can be in conflict with some operational or technical constraints. The station-keeping planning is a critical process, since it is not based on periodic impulsive manoeuvres, but rather on quasi-continuous firings. Furthermore the orbit control should be planned more on a seasonal or a yearly cycle rather than on short weekly cycles. Since each manoeuvre is defined by its start time and duration, the total number of parameters involved in a station-keeping optimization process amounts to several tens. The presence of many variables and logical constraints makes the use of classical optimization methods quite complex. The model proposed here is based on genetic algorithms, which allows the convergence to an optimum solution through successive iterations, in which a random set of solutions is progressively selected on the basis of a factor of merit tailored to the target. This paper presents some innovative concepts for station-keeping optimization when ion propulsion is adopted for orbital control; furthermore, the general properties of genetic algorithms are discussed, together with the results obtained in the specific station-keeping application.