Optimal robust linearized impulsive rendezvous

The optimization of time-fixed linearized impulsive rendezvous with control uncertainty is investigated. One performance index related to the variances of the terminal state error is defined as the performance index of robustness which is calculated by linear covariance method. The two-objective optimization problem of minimizing the total characteristic velocity and the performance index of robustness is formulated based on the Clohessy–Wiltshire (C-W) system and solved by the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm. The Pareto-optimal solution sets of one homing rendezvous mission are provided and the Pareto optimality is verified by comparing with the fuel-optimal and the robustness-optimal solutions. It is shown that the proposed approach can quickly investigate the relation between the fuel cost and the trajectory robustness, besides evaluate different rendezvous maneuver schemes.