Abstract
Future scientific missions, such as virtual telescopes or interferometers, will require precise formation flying, such that the relative positions of spacecraft are controlled very precisely. The present paper discusses how to suppress relative position variation during one orbit. In the present paper, we propose a new approach to choose an adequate initial position and velocity, such that the relative position is maintained when averaged over one orbital motion, and design a predictive, discrete feedback controller. An along-track formation control in low earth orbit is taken as an example, where the J2 term and air drag are the two representative natural disturbances. Numerical simulations are performed in order to validate the proposed controller and investigate how the size of minimum impulse affects control accuracy.
