• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.1072-1078
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• 2008

An adaptive control algorithm for spacecraft rendezvous and docking in a Keplerian orbit is presented. The equations of relative motion of two spacecrafts expressed in a local-vertical-local-horizontal rectangular frame are converted to a general Hamiltonian form, then an adaptive control method developed for the uncertain Hamiltonian system is applied to the rendezvous and docking problem. A smooth projection algorithm is applied to keep the parameter estimates inside a singularity-free region, and a numerical example shows that the developed controller successfully deals with the unknown mass of the chaser spacecraft.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.45 no.9
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• pp.775-783
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• 2017

In this paper, an impulsive rendezvous problem by using minimum energy of spacecraft in different orbits is addressed. In particular, the orbits considered in this paper are the general orbits including the elliptic orbit, while most of the orbits considered in the literature have been restricted within co-planar or circular orbits. The constraints for solving this optimization problem are the Kepler's equation formulated with the universal variable, and the final position and velocity of two spacecraft. Also, the Lagrange coefficients, sometimes called as f and g solution, are used to describe the orbit transfer. The proposed method technique is demonstrated through numerical simulation by considering the minimum energy, and both the minimum energy and the wait time, respectively. Finally, it is also verified by comparing with the Hohmann transfer known as the minimum energy trajectory. Although a closed-form solution cannot be obtained, it shows that the suggested technique can provide a new insight to solve various orbital transfer problems.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.221-228
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• 1998

The effect of air drag was researched when a low-earth orbit spacecraft using power-limited thruster rendezvoused another low-earth orbit spacecraft. The air density was assumed to decrease exponentially. The radius of parking orbit was 6655.935km and that of target orbit was 7321.529km. From the trajectories of active vehicles, the fuelconsumption and the magnitude of thrust acceleration, we could conclude that the effect of air drag had to be considered in fuel optimal rendezvous problem between low-earth orbit spacecrafts. In multiple-revolution rendezvous case, the air drag was more effective.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.219-229
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• 2018

This paper proposes Kalman Filter-based relative navigation algorithms for proximity tasks such as rendezvous/docking/cluster-operation of spacecraft using PSD Sensors and Infrared Beacon Modules. Numerical simulations are performed for comparative analysis of the performance of each relative-navigation technique. Based on the operation principle and optical modeling of the PSD Sensor and the Infrared Beacon Module used in the relative navigation algorithm, a measurement model for the Kalman filter is constructed. The Extended Kalman Filter(EKF) and the Unscented Kalman Filter(UKF) are used as probabilistic relative navigation based on measurement fusion to utilize kinematics and dynamics information on translational and rotation motions of satellites. Relative position and relative attitude estimation performance of two filters is compared. Especially, through the simulation of various scenarios, performance changes are also investigated depending on the number of PSD Sensors and IR Beacons in target and chaser satellites.