Cooperative Platooning and Servicing for Spacecraft Formation Flying using Model Predictive Control

This paper addresses two complementary problems of spacecraft formation flying, namely spacecraft
platooning and on-orbit spacecraft servicing, using Model Predictive Control (MPC). With
the proposed solutions, these space formation scenarios can be regarded as a cooperative system
composed of several spacecraft with a common goal, which may have clear advantages relative to
other approaches.
For each application scenario, a different optimization problem and MPC design is presented,
including relevant constraints to deal with physical limitations, visibility problems, and also to
guarantee a collision-free trajectory from other spacecraft or obstacles.
The proposed methods are validated with realistic simulation results, showing that all vehicles
demonstrate reliable performance following a given trajectory or goal in a formation, while
satisfying all the considered constraints.