Guidance, navigation and motion control of mini-satellites in a low-orbit Earth surveying constellation

Abstract

The problems of guidance, navigation and motion control of mini-satellites in a low-orbit Earth surveying constellation are considered. The synthesis of the guidance laws is based on explicit relations that link the image motion  in the telescope focal plane with the satellite spatial motion relative to the Earth's surface. The developed methods and algorithms for scanning areal survey performed by mini-satellite constellations in sun-synchronous orbits as well as results of computer simulation  are presented, that demonstrate their effectiveness.