Abstract
The article proposes an optimization method based on the function approximation
in control strategies design of medium earth orbit (MEO) and inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) satellites. As an extension of the functional approximation method (FAM), this method is suitable to solve a single-variable or a multivariable optimization question with equality or inequality constraints. This ensures that the optimal control strategies for MEO and IGSO satellites to manoeuvre along the ideal control arc can be easily determined, and finally make satellites enter the designed orbits as soon as possible after satellites being launched under restrictions of the limited propellant and number of revolutions around the earth. In the current article, the basic FAM model is first introduced, and then the method applications and the simulation results are discussed in detail. Compared with the conventionally adopted exhaust search in the process of the optimal strategy design for the MEOand IGSO satellites, this method has the advantages of simplicity, less dependence on the initial parameter range, and requires much less computational effort.