Multiple spacecraft configuration designs for coordinated flight missions

Abstract

Coordinated flight allows the replacement of a single monolithic spacecraft with multiple smaller ones, based on the principle of distributed systems. According to the mission objectives and in order to ensure a safe relative motion, constraints on the relative distances need to be satisfied. Initially, differential perturbations are limited by proper orbit design. Then, the induced differential drifts can be properly handled through corrective maneuvers. In this work several designs are surveyed, defining the initial configuration of a group of spacecraft while counteracting the differential perturbations. For each of the investigated designs, focus is placed upon the number of deployable spacecraft and on the possibility to ensure safe relative motion through station keeping of the initial configuration, with particular attention to the required DV budget and the constraints violations.