Multiple-spacecraft orbit-transfer problem: The no-booster case

Primer vector theory, in combination with a parameter optimization algorith m, is used to compute the optimal transfer of n spacecraft from an initial parking orbit to a final operational orbit with the added constraint that a ll spacecraft are injected from the parking orbit on one upper-stage booste r and that all are required to be spaced along the final orbit according to some prescribed, but otherwise arbitrary, spacing constraint between indiv idual spacecraft. A particular case of the problem, known as the no-booster case, is examined, in which it is assumed that all spacecraft are required to perform all of the necessary maneuvers without the aid of a booster and the spacecraft are simply constrained to start at the same location on the initial orbit. The solution is formulated for a general force field, and e xamples are given for a three-spacecraft constellation transfer in the rest ricted three-body problem force-field model.