Coordinated control of tethered space robot using mobile tether attachment point in approaching phase

Tethered space robots (TSRs) have wide applications in future on-orbit service owing to its flexibility and great workspace. However, the control problem is quite complex and difficult in the phase of approaching target, and the fuel consumption must also be taken into account. Hence, we present a novel scheme of achieving coordinated orbit and attitude control simultaneously for the TSR. Space tether, which can provide greater force compared with the thruster force, is used in the design of the orbit and attitude coordinated controller. A coordinated control mechanism is designed to provide attitude control torques of the pitch and yaw motions by adjusting the position of the mobile tether attachment point, while the roll motion is stabilized by the thruster. In order to guarantee this mechanism to work properly, constant tether tension strategies are utilized to plan an optimal approaching trajectory which is tracked by the coordinated controller of tether force and thruster force. Numerical simulation validates the feasibility of our proposed coordinated control scheme for TSR in the approaching phase. Furthermore, fuel consumption of the orbit and attitude control are both significantly reduced compared with traditional thruster control.     

Impact of orbit modeling on DORIS station position and Earth rotation estimates

The high precision of estimated station coordinates and Earth rotation parameters (ERP) obtained from satellite geodetic techniques is based on the precise determination of the satellite orbit. This paper focuses on the analysis of the impact of different orbit parameterizations on the accuracy of station coordinates and the ERPs derived from DORIS observations. In a series of experiments the DORIS data from the complete year 2011 were processed with different orbit model settings. First, the impact of precise modeling of the non-conservative forces on geodetic parameters was compared with results obtained with an empirical-stochastic modeling approach. Second, the temporal spacing of drag scaling parameters was tested. Third, the impact of estimating once-per-revolution harmonic accelerations in cross-track direction was analyzed. And fourth, two different approaches for solar radiation pressure (SRP) handling were compared, namely adjusting SRP scaling parameter or fixing it on pre-defined values.     

Optical orbital debris spotter

The number of man-made debris objects orbiting the Earth, or orbital debris, is alarmingly increasing, resulting in the increased probability of degradation, damage, or destruction of operating spacecraft. In part, small objects (<10 cm) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) are of concern because they are abundant and difficult to track or even to detect on a routine basis. Due to the increasing debris population it is reasonable to assume that improved capabilities for on-orbit damage attribution, in addition to increased capabilities to detect and track small objects are needed. Here we present a sensor concept to detect small debris with sizes between approximately 1.0 and 0.01 cm in the vicinity of a host spacecraft for near real time damage attribution and characterization of dense debris fields and potentially to provide additional data to existing debris models.     

一种新的升力式再入投送系统轨道部署方法

针对天基再入投送系统与传统星座轨道部署问题的不同,建立了用于轨道部署覆盖性能仿真的星下点轨迹、覆盖条带计算模型和覆盖判别条件模型;针对传统部署方法的不均匀性,提出了一种新的升力式再入飞行器全球部署方法。该方法采用双倾角条带覆盖方式克服了传统部署方法的固有缺陷,既实现了全球覆盖又提高了重点区域的覆盖重数。仿真结果表明该部署方法的覆盖性能相对传统方法有明显提高,在满足全球100%覆盖的同时又对重点区域的覆盖重数提高了约20%,覆盖性能优异。     

航星座自主运行平行系统的轨道计算方法

构建一个能够与实际卫星导航系统长期保持时空一致的平行系统,可为导航星座自主运行提供一个监视与评估平台。针对建设该平行系统所需的高逼真轨道计算问题,引入平行系统理论的思想,在分析历史精密轨道的基础上,提出高精度轨道计算与预报方法。该方法以不断更新的精密轨道作为输入,利用PID增量式算法或时变加权法进行数据平滑,使得轨道计算结果始终与实际系统保持高度一致性。试验结果表明,该方法可使卫星轨道计算的结果与实际卫星轨道长期保持在分米量级。     

Real-time spacecraft intercept strategy on J2-perturbed orbits

A real-time intercept strategy for spacecraft under the non-uniform gravitational perturbation of Earth is addressed in this paper. To intercept a target spacecraft on general conic sections, an interceptor considered in this work makes use of a thruster propelling the constant thrust which is comparable to unrealistic impulse-type thrust. The $J_2$ perturbation introduces critical dynamic variations of spacecraft orbiting the Earth, which results in a considerable amount of position error of the interceptor at the final intercept point. In order to release the burden of $J_2$ disturbance and make the miss distance between the target and interceptor small, a real-time intercept technique with an optimal intercept algorithm is suggested. The strategy proposed is to obtain an optimized output iteratively for a given time interval with previously obtained optimal values. These parameters are evaluated by the optimal intercept algorithm suggested. Once the optimal velocity change is obtained to satisfy intercept requirements, although the orbital system is perturbed, it is easy to regenerate a new solution by setting the previous solution as new initial guesses. This strategy is employed iteratively until the interceptor meets the target. Several numerical simulations are performed to highlight the proposed real-time strategy for spacecraft intercept missions.     

中间轨道实用化的进一步探讨

对于受摄二体问题,通常都是处理成一个变化椭圆轨道问题。而对于强摄动情况,椭圆变化太快,人们希望能找到另一种更接近真实运动的所谓中间轨道来代替椭圆轨道。特别针对一些环绕大行星(包括地球)或小行星运行的低轨卫星(探测器),因中心天体的扁率影响较大,给出了几类中间轨道。如Vinti型中间轨道,它可完整地包含扁率项的摄动影响。但它毕竟不能完全反映中心天体的非球形引力作用,在此基础上再去求各种剩余摄动是否简单,人们作了一些有益的探讨。本文就是在此背景下对Vinti型中间轨道的实用化作进一步的深入探讨。结果表明,对一些特殊的中心天体,中间轨道还是有一定实用价值的。     

MISTRAM系统定轨的数学方法

通过对ＭＩＳＴＲＡＭ系统跟踪航天飞行器定轨原理的细致的数学分析,得到了一种解算轨道的新方法。该方法不需要标称轨道,计算极为简便,而且精度高;同时还给出了误差传递方式。实测数据和大量模拟计算均表明,该方法有很好的效果。     

伴随轨道拟合技术

航天器的伴随轨道可以执行各种特殊任务。文中给出一种从伴随轨道确定两个航天器轨道要素的方法,这一方法也可推广应用于多个航天器的情况。     

航天器入轨误差分析

由于发射时熄火点产生的误差,需要有一种误差分析以便确定运载火箭的制导精度。本文介绍了飞行路径上的小误差对航天器轨道的影响,接着讨论了确定制导精度的方法并给出了圆轨道的简化公式。