Long-Range Approach for Monitoring of Non-Cooperative Objects Using Differential Drag

The increasing number of non-cooperative objects such as space debris in low Earth orbit has prompted the need for low-resource approaches using small satellites for monitoring and removal missions. In this study, we propose a relative orbit control method that combines TLE and vision-based navigation with orbit control using air drag. This eliminates the need for additional hardware or propellant. A mission scenario is considered in which a chaser satellite approaches a non-cooperative target from 30 km to 10 km using differential drag, followed by vision-based navigation for short-range monitoring. The feasibility of the proposed approach is evaluated through numerical simulations considering nonlinear dynamics, atmospheric density uncertainty, and TLE errors. The results demonstrate successful approach and relative distance maintenance down to 10 km, confirming the effectiveness of TLE and drag-based control for long-range proximity operations.