Three spacecraft formation control by means of electrostatic forces

This paper focuses on electrostatic orbital control in formation flying by using switching strategies for charge distribution. Natural and artificial charging effects are taken into account, and limits in charging technology and in power requirements are also considered. The case of three spacecraft formation, which is intrinsically different and more difficult than the two spacecraft problem often analyzed in literature, has been investigated. A Lyapunov based global control strategy is presented and applied to perform formation acquisition and maintenance maneuvers, producing as output the required overall charge. Then, a selective and optimized charge distribution process among the satellites is discussed for avoiding charge breakdowns to surrounding plasma, for reducing the power requirements and the number of charge switches. The results of numerical simulations show the advantages and drawbacks of the selected control technique.