Topology of the relative motion: circular and eccentric reference orbit cases

Overview & Synopsis

This paper deals with the topology of the relative trajectories in ight formations. The purpose is to study the dierent types of relative trajectories, their degrees of freedom, and to give an adapted parameterization. The paper also deals with the research of local circular motions. Even if the exist only when the reference orbit is circular, we extrapolate initial conditions to the eccentric reference orbit case.This alternative approach is complementary with traditional approaches in terms of cartesian coordiantes or dierences of orbital elements.