Conditions of Reducing effect of J2 Perturbation on Formation Flying

After the relative motion coordinate frame is defined in formation flying, linear equations of relative motion described by small orbital element bias are developed with respect to it. And then the differential expressions of relative position drifts due to J₂ perturbation are established. Integrating them along the orbit, the drifts without effects of true anomaly are obtained. To eliminate relative position drifts resulting from J₂ perturbation, certain conditions that the initial orbital elements should meet are available with respect to circle or approximating circle orbit. Numerical simulators are employed to check the fidelity of the conclusion. Comparisons of illustrations show that the drifts obviously decrease when the orbit elements meet the conditions