The problem of inclination change in near-circular orbit using intermittent, low-thrust solar electric propulsion is analyzed. Given the shadow arc length and the line of nodes of initial to final orbits, piecewise constant yaw angles are selected, and the location along the orbit where the yaw angle switches is optimized to carry out the largest inclination change per revolution for that particular geometry. Single-switch and two-switch strategies are analyzed, and several algorithms of varying complexity are described and numerically tested for their relative performance. This approach yields suboptimal but robust and real-time autonomous onboard guidance software for electric orbit transfer vehicle orbital transfer applications.
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