Minimum-time orbital rendezvous between neighboring elliptic orbits
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abstract
Time-optimal rendezvous maneuvers are studied. The system considered consists of a target vehicle (nonmaneuvering vehicle) in a known elliptic orbit and an interceptor vehicle (maneuvering vehicle) in a neighboring elliptic orbit such that the ratio of the distance between the two vehicles to the radius of the target-vehicle orbit is small. The interceptor vehicle has propulsive jet systems which can produce a variable thrust, positive or negative, independently in three perpendicular directions. The case where the target vehicle is in the elliptic orbit is mainly considered and some analytical difficulties involved in the circular-orbit case are discussed. Several time-optimal trajectories for different configurations are shown. 1969 Plenum Publishing Corporation.
