Abstract
A minimum-fuel rendezvous of two power-limited spacecraft is investigated. Both vehicles are active and provide thrust to complete the rendezvous. Total propellant consumption is minimized. Analytical solutions are obtained for cooperative rendezvous in the linearized Hill-Clohessy-Wiltshire gravity field. The optimal solutions depends in a complicated way on the power-to-mass ratios of the spacecraft, the inital orbits, and the specified transfer times. For comparison purposes, analytical solutiosn for active-passive rendezvous in the linearized gravity field are also determined. cooperative rendezvous requires smaller total propellant consumption. resulting in greater payload capability.