Operating Orbit Maintenance of Earth Remote Sensing Spacecraft with Low-Thrust Propulsion

To improve the quality of surface observation, Earth remote sensing spacecraft (ERS spacecraft) need to maintain the parameters of the working orbit, which degrade under the influence of disturbing accelerations. Maintaining the orbit of an ERS spacecraft can be carried out using electric rocket engines with a high specific impulse and a long operating time. This paper proposes an original scheme for maintaining the orbit of operation with feedback, based on the adjusted laws of locally optimal control of osculating elements. The results obtained indicate that the developed methodology, algorithmic and software are effective for maintaining the orbits of ERS spacecraft.