Optimal Peer-to-Peer On-Orbit Refueling Mission Planning with Complex Constraints

On-Orbit Refueling is of great significance in extending space crafts' lifetime. The problem of minimum-fuel, time-fixed, Peer-to-Peer On-Orbit Refueling mission planning is addressed here with the particular aim of assigning fuel-insufficient satellites to the fuel-sufficient satellites and optimizing each rendezvous trajectory. Constraints including perturbation, communication link, sun illumination, hold points for different rendezvous phases, and sensor switching are considered. A planning model has established as well as a two-level solution method. The upper level deals with target assignment based on fuel equilibrium criterion, while the lower level solves constrained trajectory optimization using special maneuver strategies. Simulations show that the developed method could effectively resolve the Peer-to-Peer On-Orbit Refueling mission planning problem and deal with complex constraints.

4D Flight Trajectory Optimization Based on Pseudospectral Methods

The optimization and control problem for 4D trajectories is a subject rarely addressed in literature. In the 4D navigation problem we define waypoints, for each mission, where the arrival time is specified in each of them. One way to design trajectories for achieving this kind of mission is to use the trajectory optimization concepts. To solve a trajectory optimization problem we can use the indirect or direct methods. The indirect methods are based on maximum principle of Pontryagin, on the other hand, in the direct methods it is necessary to transform into a nonlinear programming problem. We propose an approach based on direct methods with a pseudospectral integration scheme built on Chebyshev polynomials.

An Optimization of Orbital Transfer for Spacecrafts with Finite-thrust Based on Legendre Pseudospectral Method

This paper presents the use of Legendre pseudospectral method for the optimization of finite-thrust orbital transfer for spacecrafts. In order to get an accurate solution, the System-s dynamics equations were normalized through a dimensionless method. The Legendre pseudospectral method is based on interpolating functions on Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto (LGL) quadrature nodes. This is used to transform the optimal control problem into a constrained parameter optimization problem. The developed novel optimization algorithm can be used to solve similar optimization problems of spacecraft finite-thrust orbital transfer. The results of a numerical simulation verified the validity of the proposed optimization method. The simulation results reveal that pseudospectral optimization method is a promising method for real-time trajectory optimization and provides good accuracy and fast convergence.

Reentry Trajectory Optimization Based on Differential Evolution

Reentry trajectory optimization is a multi-constraints optimal control problem which is hard to solve. To tackle it, we proposed a new algorithm named CDEN(Constrained Differential Evolution Newton-Raphson Algorithm) based on Differential Evolution( DE) and Newton-Raphson.We transform the infinite dimensional optimal control problem to parameter optimization which is finite dimensional by discretize control parameter. In order to simplify the problem, we figure out the control parameter-s scope by process constraints. To handle constraints, we proposed a parameterless constraints handle process. Through comprehensive analyze the problem, we use a new algorithm integrated by DE and Newton-Raphson to solve it. It is validated by a reentry vehicle X-33, simulation results indicated that the algorithm is effective and robust.