Abstract:

In order to solve the long-term acquisition plan (LTAP) for small satelltes constellation, a mathematical model is constructed by analyzing the imaging characteristics and constraints of small satellites constellation. The model is divided into two sub-problems: initial orbit assignment and conflict resolution. First, initial orbit assignment is mapped into a k-GCP model and a greedy vertex sequence coloring (GVSC) algorithm is proposed to assign orbit. For the conflict resolution phase, the impacted tasks are sorted based on their temporal intervals relations. A mission planning algorithm based on depth-first search is designed to tackle the second sub-problem. The experimental result shows the proposed approach is effective in solving the LTAP for small satellites constellation.