Optimal Control of CubeSat Formations With Discrete On/Off Thrusters

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses the problem of formation control of CubeSat‐class nanosatellites operating in low Earth orbit. Each CubeSat is assumed to be equipped with on/off impulsive thrusters arranged along the three axes of the body to control the translational position. The aim is to maintain precise trajectories under realistic operating conditions, to preserve formation integrity and to optimize fuel efficiency. The discrete nature of thrusters, combined with a limited switching frequency, poses a major challenge in developing control algorithms that balance fuel efficiency and trajectory accuracy. In a leader‐follower scheme, the formation control problem of CubeSats is reformulated in terms of solving a constrained convex optimization problem that explicitly considers the nature of the thrusters. The resulting control law optimizes the activation of the thrusters to ensure efficient and accurate formation control. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution, a wide campaign of numerical simulations was performed using a detailed nonlinear mathematical model that takes into account environmental effects such as atmospheric drag, solar radiation pressure and the effects of J2 orbit perturbations.