Lyapunov control for the leader-follower satellite formation

The Lyapunov control law basing ellipse reference orbit is proposed, which is used to solving the control problem of the leader-follower satellite formation. An in-track direction drift transition formation is proposed for the leader-follower formation capture and reconfiguration. The Lyapunov control law is derived within the drift formation, and the system pole assignment is executed basing on the second-order system´s optimal damping. The pulse-width modulation scheme is presented for the propulsion output modulation. The simulation shows that the drift formation and control law can be used for the leader-follower formation control under a large aberration. The research proposed in the paper can be good material and reference for the satellite formation engineering application.