On-line optimal impulsive controller for satellite rendezvous

In this paper, the problem on control of satellite relative motion under perturbations will be investigated. An impulsive optimal feedback controller based on a pseudospectral method has been designed. Receding horizon concept is employed to control the satellites along the operation course. The simulation results show that the closed-form controller based on state transformation matrix is asymptotically stable with fast error suppression ability. The fuel expenditure is optimized along the control horizon. Moreover, the algorithm requires less computational burden than general optimization methods, and hence it is suitable for on-line implementation.