Satellite Formation Flying: Dynamics and Control

Dear Colleagues, 

Since the satellite formation/cluster flying concept was proposed at the end of the 1990s, it has attracted global attention from academics. Advances have been made in the theory and technology of the relative dynamics, formation design, maintenance, and reconfiguration control involved in satellite formation; in fact, they have been used to build spacecrafts for Germany's TanDEM-X and Sweden's PRISMA satellite formation missions. Due to the recent rapid development of micro-satellite technology, large-scale satellite formation/cluster technology has become a hot topic in related research fields. The relative dynamics, distributed navigation, and distributed coordinated attitude and orbit control required in large-scale satellite clusters also bring new technological challenges, and thus require further investigation. 

The aim of this Special Issue is to present a broad collection of papers pertaining to dynamics, control, planning, and decision making in space missions. We are especially interested in studies that involve large-scale multi-spacecraft systems, and also welcome papers on navigation, guidance, and control in the space industry in the fields of aerospace, space robotics, and space aircrafts. 

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Large-scale satellite formation/cluster dynamics;
• Constellation systems;
• Formation flying mission design;
• Spatial measurements of space systems, in-orbit service, and in-orbit assembly;
• Distributed navigation, and relative motion guidance and control;
• Swarm intelligence;
• Aerospace robotics and aircrafts;
• Data processing and analysis;
• Laboratory study of formation flying control and navigation algorithms;
• Relative motion simulation. 

Dr. Danil Ivanov
Dr. Jihe Wang
Dr. Jin Wu
Dr. Chengxi Zhang
Prof. Wei Wang
Dr. Ran Sun
Guest Editors

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• satellite formation flying
• control algorithms
• relative dynamics
• motion simulation
• mission design
• laboratory study