SPACE DEBRIS COLLISION AVOIDANCE FOR RECONFIGURABLE SPACECRAFT ELECTROMAGNETIC FORMATION FLYING

This paper investigates the reconfiguration problem of Spacecraft Electromagnetic Formation Flying (EMFF) in a space debris environment. The proposed electromagnetic formation system consists of two cubic spacecraft using electromagnetic coils as actuators. In the real situation of formation flight, distances between the two cubic electromagnetic spacecraft are confined to a proper range. Firstly, the dynamic equations are derived by utilizing the Lagrange Method. Secondly, the optimal control problem is studied to obtain optimal trajectory of cubic spacecrafts under the constraints of inter-satellite collision avoidance, and collision avoidance between formation members and orbiting space debris as well, which is solved by using Gauss Pseudospectral Method (GPM). Finally, numerical simulation verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method.