Fuel-Efficient Maneuvers for Constellation Initialization Using Fuzzy Logic Control

This paper deals with fuel-efficient maneuvers for constellation initialization. A new orbital controller based on fuzzy logic is proposed. It is composed of two level controllers: the high level controller is a fuzzy logic based planner, which resolves the conflicting constraints induced from the control efficiency and the control accuracy, while the base level controller is the well-known Folta-Quinn algorithm. The analysis and simulation studies indicate that the algorithm is very effective in reducing fuel cost for constellation formation capturing control.