Analysis of rendezvous and docking in geostationary Earth orbit. Rider to comparison of future communications space segment concepts

Geostationary rendezvous homing, final approach, and docking phases were analyzed. The target is assumed to be a linear telecommunication platform composed of a service module and several payload modules; when operating, the platform must not be disturbed by the rendezvous and docking (RVD) operations. A period of time compatible with the orientation of the solar arrays is allocated each day for the final approach and docking phase. The homing phase and final approach are analyzed with simulations which propose a nominal strategy to meet the constraints and requirements, and to reuse as much as possible hardware already implemented on board. The analysis of docking phase is performed in terms of performance and requirements, and results in the definition of docking mechanism concepts. Block diagram of the RVD is compared to the reference scenario; the applicability of the scenario to ESAS platform and specific RVD hardware are discussed.