Rendezvous and Quasi-Rendezvous Maneuvers with Space Debris

Abstract

Rendezvous maneuvers are very useful in space missions operations. The encounters between spacecraft, between a spacecraft and a space debris, between a probe and a celestial body, between a spacecraft and a nearby object (NEO) as a mitigation measure to protect the Earth against collision and other applications, make use of these maneuvers. We define Quasi-Rendezvous maneuvers as those performed at low velocity, such that damage to the spacecraft is negligible. In this work, we study the distribution of these maneuvers as a function of the final relative velocities between a spacecraft and a spatial debris. The results were divided into two types: the first, for the dynamics subject only to the terrestrial gravitational force and the second, including the propulsion force acting on the vehicle. They show that the maneuvers propelled can approach the objects, overcoming the effect of the gravity of the earth for very small speeds.