Planning and scheduling proximity operations for autonomous orbital rendezvous

Abstract

This thesis develops a mixed integer programming formulation to solve the proximity operations scheduling problem for autonomous orbital rendezvous. The algorithm of this thesis allows the operator to specify planned modes, which encode the chase satellite's operations. The scheduler optimally places these modes in the midst of the environmental conditions that fall out of the chase satellite's orbit parameters. The algorithm manages resources, i. e. battery state of charge, and observes temporal constraints. Experiments show that the scheduler responds to changes in a variety of situations. It accommodates changes to the constraints in the modes. Relaxing or tightening the restrictions on the resources illuminates the algorithm's responsiveness to practical resource demands. Changes to the definition of optimality via a cost function indicate that the scheduler reacts to a diverse set of parameters.