Space tethered robot optimal trajectory planning for medium approaching range based on velocity impulse

This paper proposes a multi-objective trajectory optimization approach based on velocity impulse for the medium range trajectory planning of a space tethered robot, The optimization includes total velocity impulse and flight time. First, a relative dynamic model and a trajectory optimization model are provided for an approaching target of the space tethered robot. Next, the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm is employed to obtain the optimal trajectory Pareto solution set for a relative distance of 1.5 km. Simulation results show that this method can reveal the relationships among flight time, fuel consumption, planar view angle and velocity impulse number. By identifying multiple solutions, the approach can produce the corresponding optimal trajectory to meet different task requirements for a medium approaching range.