Optimal finite thrust geostationary satellite positioning with operational constraints

The minimum cost geostationary satellite positioning problem is considered. Results for a low-thrust propulsion motor are presented for both transfer and rendezvous maneuvers. The influence of maneuver splitting and of operational constraints such as ground station visibility is analyzed, and required positioning times are given. The performance of the numerical iterative projected gradient method used to solve the problem is evaluated. This algorithm uses multiple adjoint vectors and, due to its very general design, can take into account terminal equality and inequality constraints as well as current inequality constraints.