Design of optimal low-thrust manoeuvres for remote sensing multi-satellite formation flying in low Earth orbit

This paper presents a strategy for optimal manoeuvre design of multi-satellite formation flying in low Earth orbit environment, with the aim of providing a tool for mission operation design. The proposed methodology for formation flying manoeuvres foresees a continuous low-thrust control profile, to enable the operational phases. The design is performed starting from the dynamic representation described in the relative orbital elements, including the main orbital perturbations effects. It also exploits an interface with the classical radial-transversal-normal description to include the maximum delta-v limitation and the safety condition requirements. The methodology is applied to a remote sensing mission study, Formation Flying L-band Aperture Synthesis, for land and ocean application, such as a potential high-resolution Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) follow-on mission, as part of a European Space Agency mission concept study. Moreover, the results are applicable to a wide range of low Earth orbit missions, exploiting a distributed system, and in particular to Formation Flying L-band Aperture Synthesis (FFLAS) as a follow-on concept to SMOS.