Distributed Analytic Predictive Control for Multispacecraft Cooperatively Flying Around a Noncooperative Target

In light of the importance of fly-around observation for noncooperative targets in on-orbit servicing, a low-complexity and highly effective relative motion control method is required. It attracts considerable attention because of the limited onboard computation and fuel resources of multispacecraft systems with external disturbances and noncooperative maneuvers. Via exploiting the sequential action control structure under actuator saturation, this article develops a distributed analytic predictive relative motion control scheme based on a receding horizon strategy and dynamic model in the line-of-sight frame. In contrast to existing methods, the main advantages of the developed approach are the explicit solution to the open-loop optimization problem with low computational complexity. Moreover, the devised controller's application time and duration are determined flexibly considering the impact of instantaneous relative motion trends on tracking errors. Finally, two sets of numerical simulations are performed for the effectiveness verification.