Relative Motion of Sun-pointing Smart Dust in Circular Heliocentric Orbits

The aim of thisNote is to extend the results of [12] to the study of the linearized relative motion of a sun-pointing SD and an MS when the latter describes a circular heliocentric orbit. More precisely, assuming the sun–SD distance to be close to the MS orbital radius, the linearized relative dynamics between SD and MS is described with an approach similar to that used by McInnes in the analysis of the azimuthal repositioning problem for a solar sail-based spacecraft. The contribution in the study to follow is therefore different from that discussed in [12], whose aim, instead, is to find the SD heliocentric trajectory as a function of a given control law. The results about the SD–MS relative dynamics are obtained in an analytical form and are applied to a phasing mission case, a scenario in which the SD varies its angular position (along the circular reference orbit) with respect to that of the MS.