A capture method of orbital net-capture system based on cooperative formation flying control

To cope with the space debris removal mission, a capture method based on spacecraft formation flying is investigated for the orbital net-capture system. Firstly, the relative orbit motion dynamics for each payload are modeled in the local-vertical and local-horizontal rotating frame. Secondly, the flying capture trajectory for each payload is planned by the four-order polynomial. Then, a cooperative saturated PD control algorithm with computed feedforward is proposed such that all payloads can track the planned flying trajectories. This realizes the closed-loop orbital net-capture process. Finally, the simulation example of four payloads installed at the net capturing one static space debris illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed capture method.