Three Satellites Formation Flying: Deployment and Formation Acquisition Using Relative Orbital Elements

This paper presents the analysis for the deployment and the acquisition procedures for a three-satellites formation flying, on a sun-synchronous orbit, as part of a study for a European Space Agency potential high resolution L-band radi-ometer mission for land and ocean applications. The methodologies for for-mation-flight establishment and reconfiguration maneuvers are presented, to enable the operational phase which foresees a continuous low-thrust control profile to keep the formation rigid and safe. The design is performed using relative orbital elements, including maximum delta-v limitation, safety condition requirements, and perturbation effects. The results, verified through high-fidelity propagation, apply to a wide range of Earth observation missions exploiting distributed systems.