Distributed satellite system autonomous orbital control with recursive filtering
Tomás Ignacio Burroni, Kathiravan Thangavel, Pablo Servidia, Roberto Sabatini
Abstract
In this study, we propose a Recursive Relative Orbit Elements Filter for Autonomous Orbit Control that significantly reduces the variance of Relative Orbital Elements between the observed satellite orbit and the desired orbit. The proposed algorithm uses past orbital elements and control inputs, along with a model of the relative dynamics, to improve control feedback and reduce propellant consumption. In conjunction with Precise Point Positioning navigation, the proposed filter enables onboard continuous low-thrust control compatible with high-performance electric propulsion. We also propose a restricted transverse/normal control law that simplifies the thruster's configurations and/or attitude maneuvers required for propulsion pointing. The applicability and validity of our proposed techniques are verified by numerical simulations with two case studies: a constellation for Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar for global infrastructure monitoring; and a Maritime Domain Awareness mission based on Along-Track Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar which requires single-pass interferometry for responsive ship traffic surveillance, and the coverage of a very large maritime zone with high revisit rates.