Astrodynamics and Control

A special issue of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994). This special issue belongs to the section "Engineering and Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 9637

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, Politecnico di Milano, 20156 Milano, Italy
Interests: astrodynamics; autonomous systems control; geometric control; delay differential equations; attitude control

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Guest Editor
Facoltà di Scienze e Tecnologie, Libera Università di Bolzano, Piazza Università 5 - 39100 Bolzano, Italy
Interests: geometric control theory; dynamics and control; attitude control; astrodynamics

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Guest Editor
College of Civil Aviation, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China
Interests: vibration; finite element modeling; laminated composite; dynamics; impact
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Guest Editor
School of Aerospace Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, 00138 Rome, Italy
Interests: artificial intelligence; deep learning; active fire temperature retrieval; hot spot detection; on board computing
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Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

The symmetry of the solar system, particularly of the dynamic relations of celestial bodies in groups, has been known by astronomers since antiquity. Astrodynamics is the inheritor of this knowledge in terms of how we understand the orbital dynamics of systems under the influence of gravity and applies this knowledge to create orbital maneuvers, plane changes, and interplanetary transfers of artificial satellites and spacecraft. Control theory is applied to ’operate’ the dynamical system of these bodies in space to control them optimally, without delay or overshoot and with control stability. The interplay of the geometry of the dynamical system and the geometry of the controlled vehicle provides a terrain rich in symmetries to be exploited for purposes of control and to be better uncovered and understood.

The purpose of this Special Issue of the journal Symmetry is to present some recent developments as well as possible future directions in the control of spacecraft using the symmetry of interactions in astrodynamics. Special emphasis is given to the concept of symmetry in control, for example, geometric control approaches and approaches considering the use of gravity and the dynamics of the space environment to improve control performance, such as gravity assistance or methods exploiting invariant manifolds and planetary spheres of influence to produce low energy or time-minimal trajectories. New ways of seeing and conceptualizing interactions within the solar system and the dynamics of satellites and spacecraft using geometry and symmetry are particularly welcomed. Dynamics, design and control of space structures/systems (spacecraft, satellites, space robots, deployable structures, etc) are also welcomed.

Prof. Dr. James Douglas Biggs
Dr. Helen Clare Henninger
Dr. Yadong Zhou
Dr. Dario Spiller
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Symmetry is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • orbital maneuvers
  • orbits
  • spacecraft attitude control
  • spacecraft propulsion
  • guidance
  • navigation
  • gravity assist
  • gravity drag
  • low energy transfer
  • spacecraft rendezvous
  • sphere of influence
  • characteristic energy
  • dynamics of space structures/systems
  • innovative space systems
  • computational methods

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 4383 KiB  
Article
Analytical Attitude Guidance Planner for Multiple Ground Targets Acquisitions
by Andrea Carbone, Dario Spiller  and Fabio Curti 
Symmetry 2022, 14(11), 2341; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/sym14112341 - 7 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1167
Abstract
This paper focuses on the development of a guidance methodology for the planning of multiple ground target acquisition. Specifically, the work addresses the problem of the lack of an attitude guidance planner (AGP) aboard a remote sensing satellite. In general, the [...] Read more.
This paper focuses on the development of a guidance methodology for the planning of multiple ground target acquisition. Specifically, the work addresses the problem of the lack of an attitude guidance planner (AGP) aboard a remote sensing satellite. In general, the guidance is computed offline and uploaded by ground control to the space segment, i.e., satellites are not responsible for the guidance generation but they only perform control algorithms to track the guidance profiles provided by the ground segment. Overall, this limits the mission flexibility and efficiency, affecting the capability of autonomous satellite decisions. This choice is driven by the fact that the numerical algorithms used to optimize the attitude guidance trajectory require high computational effort to be implemented directly on the satellite computer. Therefore, the aim of this work is to design an analytical AGP solution to solve this problem by requiring low computational effort, making it suitable for real-time applications on on-board flight hardware. In this way, the satellite’s guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) module would become completely autonomous and independent of ground control, which will only have to indicate the targets to be acquired so that the satellite can generate its own guidance for the GNC module. The AGP analytical solution for multiple ground target acquisition is evaluated by means of phases: the first phase is named the APPG (attitude point-to-point generator) and it aims to generate the point-to-point guidance to start the ground target acquisition. The second phase is named the ATPG (attitude target pointing generator) and it generates the reference guidance to maintain the payload view axis pointing toward the ground target. The two phases joined together give the whole guidance needed to observe ground target points by means of an analytical closed-form solution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Astrodynamics and Control)
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17 pages, 3776 KiB  
Article
Optimal Trajectory Synthesis for Spacecraft Asteroid Rendezvous
by Ranjan Vepa and M. Hasan Shaheed
Symmetry 2021, 13(8), 1403; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/sym13081403 - 2 Aug 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2170
Abstract
Several researchers are considering the plausibility of being able to rapidly launch a mission to an asteroid, which would fly in close proximity of the asteroid to deliver an impulse in a particular direction so as to deflect the asteroid from its current [...] Read more.
Several researchers are considering the plausibility of being able to rapidly launch a mission to an asteroid, which would fly in close proximity of the asteroid to deliver an impulse in a particular direction so as to deflect the asteroid from its current orbit. Planetary motion, in general, and the motion of asteroids, in particular, are subject to planetary influences that are characterised by a kind of natural symmetry, which results in an asteroid orbiting in a stable and periodic or almost periodic orbit exhibiting a number of natural orbital symmetries. Tracking and following an asteroid, in close proximity, is the subject of this paper. In this paper, the problem of synthesizing an optimal trajectory to a NEO such as an asteroid is considered. A particular strategy involving the optimization of a co-planar trajectory segment that permits the satellite to approach and fly alongside the asteroid is chosen. Two different state space representations of the Hill–Clohessy–Wiltshire (HCW) linearized equations of relative motion are used to obtain optimal trajectories for a spacecraft approaching an asteroid. It is shown that by using a state space representation of HCW equations where the secular states are explicitly represented, the optimal trajectories are not only synthesized rapidly but also result in lower magnitudes of control inputs which must be applied continuously over extended periods of time. Thus, the solutions obtained are particularly suitable for low thrust control of the satellites orbit which can be realized by electric thrusters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Astrodynamics and Control)
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20 pages, 982 KiB  
Article
Effective Boundary Value Problem Solver via Bézier Functions
by Daegyun Choi, Henzeh Leeghim and Donghoon Kim
Symmetry 2021, 13(5), 736; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/sym13050736 - 21 Apr 2021
Viewed by 1870
Abstract
In engineering disciplines, many important problems are to be formed as boundary value problems (BVPs) that have conditions that are specified at the extremes. To handle such problems, the conventional shooting method that transforms BVPs into initial value problems has been extensively used, [...] Read more.
In engineering disciplines, many important problems are to be formed as boundary value problems (BVPs) that have conditions that are specified at the extremes. To handle such problems, the conventional shooting method that transforms BVPs into initial value problems has been extensively used, but it does not always guarantee solving the problem due to the possible failure of finding a proper initial guess. This paper proposes a universal initial guess finder that is composed of Bézier functions. Various dimensional problems that include Lambert’s problem for several orbits around the spherically symmetric Earth are studied to validate the efficacy of the proposed approach, and the results are compared. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Astrodynamics and Control)
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10 pages, 3270 KiB  
Article
Influence of Orbital Parameters on SEU Rate of Low-Energy Proton in Nano-SRAM Device
by Bing Ye, Li-Hua Mo, Tao Liu, You-Mei Sun and Jie Liu
Symmetry 2020, 12(12), 2030; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/sym12122030 - 8 Dec 2020
Viewed by 3189
Abstract
The on-orbit single-event upset (SEU) rate of nanodevices is closely related to the orbital parameters. In this paper, the on-orbit SEU rate (OOSR) induced by a heavy ion (HI), high-energy proton (HEP) and low-energy proton (LEP) for a 65 nm SRAM device is [...] Read more.
The on-orbit single-event upset (SEU) rate of nanodevices is closely related to the orbital parameters. In this paper, the on-orbit SEU rate (OOSR) induced by a heavy ion (HI), high-energy proton (HEP) and low-energy proton (LEP) for a 65 nm SRAM device is calculated by using the software SPACE RADIATION under different orbits based on the experimental data. The results indicate that the OOSR induced by the HI, HEP and LEP varies with the orbital parameters. In particular, the orbital height, inclination and shieling thickness are the key parameters that affect the contribution of the LEP to the total OOSR. Our results provide guidance for the selection of nanodevices on different orbits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Astrodynamics and Control)
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