Spacecraft Rendezvous on Small Relative Inclination Orbits Using Tethers

摘要

Tether-mediated rendezvous between a noncooperative payload and a maneuverable tether is considered. Practical scenarios in which the tether system orbit and payload are inclined relative to each other mean that capture is no longer limited to the orbital plane. The necessary conditions for achieving a zero position and zero velocity rendezvous when the tether system and payload are in arbitrary orbits are derived. Three case studies are considered in which the payload is inclined relative to the tether system by 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 deg. Two direct transcription methods are used to obtain minimum reel acceleration trajectories for the system. It is shown that significant manipulation of the three-dimensional dynamics can be achieved in under two orbits using only tension control with smooth variations in tether length. A nonlinear receding horizon controller is considered for tracking the highly nonlinear system with disturbances to the system mass distribution and perturbations to the system initial conditions. Additional important considerations for payload capture are discussed.