State-Dependent Riccati Equation Control for Spacecraft Formation flying in the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem

The use of the state-dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) technique for formation flying control in the circular restricted three-body problem is investigated in this paper. First, the relative dynamics of a leader-follower formation is described by computing the difference between the equations of motion associated to the two spacecraft. Then, a pseudo-linear form of the relative motion equations is identified in order to implement the SDRE control technique. The effectiveness of the controller is proved by the high accuracy and the limited control usage achieved during the numerical simulations, set up considering the New Worlds Observer mission scenario.