title: Real time optimal guidance of low-thrust spacecraft: an application of nonlinear model predictive control.
abstract: Real time optimal guidance is considered for a class of low thrust spacecraft. In particular, nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) is utilized for computing the optimal control actions required to transfer a spacecraft from a low Earth orbit to a mission orbit. The NMPC methodology presented is able to cope with unmodeled disturbances. The dynamics of the transfer are modeled using a set of modified equinoctial elements because they do not exhibit singularities for zero inclination and zero eccentricity. The idea behind NMPC is the repeated solution of optimal control problems; at each time step, a new control action is computed. The optimal control problem is solved using a direct method-fully discretizing the equations of motion. The large scale nonlinear program resulting from the discretization procedure is solved using IPOPT--a primal-dual interior point algorithm. Stability and robustness characteristics of the NMPC algorithm are reviewed. A numerical example is presented that encourages further development of the proposed methodology: the transfer from low-Earth orbit to a molniya orbit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. jarrieta@andrew.cmu.edu
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Arrieta-Camacho
authors.forename: Lorenz T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Biegler