A CONVEX APPROACH TO THE DESIGN OF OPTIMAL TRAJECTORIES FOR SATELLITE

This paper describes the status of an on-going research project to develop an efficient guidance algorithm for Alcatel Alenia Space Proteus platform based satellites, moved by reaction wheels. The purpose here is to provide an algorithm that can be handled by platform of LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite. A methodology based on the flatness properties of the satellite model is proposed. In order to provide a path planning algorithm that can be embedded, a convex frame for the trajectory optimisation is proposed. A performance criterion for the convex path planner is also defined. It is based on the calculation time and the accurrancy of convex approximation. Finally, simulation results are presented to illustrate the potential of the proposed method.