A Newly Constant-Thrust Control Method Based on Parameter Estimation

Abstract

Abstract Finite-thrust control technology is widely applied to space missions such as orbital transfer and rendezvous. However, traditional low-thrust method requires time-varying acceleration for achieving transfer and rendezvous. In this study, a newly piecewise constant thrust method is proposed for orbital transfer problems considering J 2 perturbation. To rapidly obtain the solution, UKF parameter estimation method is adopted, which transform the original problem into a parameter estimation problem. Numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the validation of the proposed method. It proves to be a practical choice for engineering applications.