Algorithm for Calculation of the Parameters of Four Maneuvers of a Non-Coplanar Rendezvous in the Vicinity of a Circular Orbit.

The paper describes an algorithm of calculating the parameters of four maneuvers that allows transferring an active spacecraft to a given vicinity of a space object (SO). The motion occurs in the vicinity of a circular orbit. There are two steps that constitute the process of maneuvering parameters determination: the enumeration of possible angles of impulses application in the allowed maneuvering intervals and the determination of velocity components for each combination of these angles. For the determination of velocity components, two systems of four and two linear equations are solved. The solution of problem represents the angles of impulse applications and the corresponding velocity components that provide the transferring with minimal delta-v. An algorithm for dropout of angles combination leading to obviously non-optimal solutions is proposed. By using this algorithm one can significantly reduce the time for solving the problem. The main feature of the proposed method of maneuver parameter determination is the possibility of finding a solution with the accountancy of the maximum possible errors of the velocity impulse magnitudes arising from their execution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]