Simulation on Spacecraft Formation Flight and Formation Reconfiguration

National University of Defense Technology, College of Aerospace Science and Technology, 410073, Changsha, China

Abstract

Spacecraft formation flight refers to two or more spacecraft according to a certain formation or arrangement of flight, it has important application value for deep spatial exploration, spatial science experiment, ground investigation and military and so. This paper studies the spacecraft formation flight design and formation reconfiguration based on STK. Firstly, the Clohessy-Wiltshire (CW) equation is used to describe the relative motion of the near-circular orbit and deduce the relative orbital dynamics model. Then, based on the dynamic method of the CW equation, the spatial circular formation is designed and the STK is applied to simulate it. Finally, based on the above formation, a simple multi-impulse formation reconfiguration is performed and the simulation test is verified by STK. The simulation results show that the absolute error of orbital elements of the spacecraft is calculated by the relative orbital dynamics model is less than 10^-5, and the expected formation can be completed under the condition of two-body environment, and the feasibility of simple multi-pulse formation reconfiguration is proved successfully.