Ground guided CX-OLEV rendez-vous with uncooperative geostationary satellite

CX-OLEV is a commercial mission aimed to extend the operational life of geostationary telecommunications satellites by supplying them propulsion, navigation and guidance services. Under SENER's contract and ESA's supervision, GMV designed the CX-OLEV ground guided rendez-vous (RV) approach. The starting point of the RV phase between CX-OLEV and the client is at 35 km distance with an uncertainty of 2 km. Dedicated ground tracking is performed to reduce the position uncertainty to 200 m and therefore to command the closing to 1 km distance. Fly around and final approach maneuvers complete the CX-OLEV RV approach along the client's zenith direction up to a relative distance of 7 m. Two redundant optical cameras working in the 5 m–2 km range are selected as RV sensors. The RV camera images are sent to ground and processed to determine the relative position of the spacecraft. The flight dynamics system calculates, validates and transmits in near real time the RV maneuvers commands. The relative spiral motion of CX-OLEV around the telecommunication satellite is synchronized with the Sun-client-CXOLEV angle to guarantee a good illumination of the client but without shadowing the client satellite's solar panels. The complete RV is simulated in a dedicated environment to assess its feasibility.