Maintenance of Co-Orbital Satellite Configurations With Minimal Control Inputs

The co-orbital multi-satellite system operating in low Earth orbit is prone to relative configuration instability due to orbital injection errors,J2perturbations, and atmospheric drag. However, maintaining a stable configuration is crucial for the normal operation of the mission. To address this issue, we propose a relative configuration maintenance strategy based on virtual satellites. Specifically, the strategy first establishes an optimization framework for selecting the virtual nominal point. This framework constructs a multi-objective function by integrating phase errors and satellite remaining energy, which is then solved using an optimization algorithm. Subsequently, control thresholds are set to ensure that phase errors remain within acceptable limits. Additionally, the strategy incorporates orbit altitude maintenance into the control law to ensure long-term stability. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach: compared to the baseline method, our strategy reduces the number of control maneuvers required, decreases the total phase control input, and achieves a more balanced energy distribution among the satellites.