Optimal Formation Inspection using Small Spacecraft

This paper presents an optimization method capable of determining the optimal relative trajectory of a CubeSat used to perform on-orbit inspections of each member of a spacecraft formation. The trajectory of the CubeSat relative to the formation is obtained by solving the linearized Hill’s equations. The inspector spacecraft is assumed able to perform a set of impulsive manoeuvres, and the objective function to minimize is the total velocity change required to carry out a rendezvous manoeuvre with all of the spacecraft in the formation. Different global optimization algorithms are used to find the optimal relative trajectory and the results are then refined using local optimization methods. This approach can find a solution that is close to the global minimum of the cost function. The method developed in this work is applied to different mission scenarios, includ-ing two-dimensional and three-dimensional formation structures.