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.