A COOPERATIVE EGALITARIAN PEER-TO-PEER STRATEGY FOR REFUELING SATELLITES IN CIRCULAR CONSTELLATIONS

We address the problem of peer-to-peer (P2P) refueling of satellites in a circu-lar constellation. In particular, we propose a Cooperative Egalitarian P2P (CE-P2P) strategy that combines the ideas of Cooperative and Egalitarian P2P refu-eling strategies introduced in our previous work. During a CE-P2P maneuver, a fuel-sufficient satellite and a fuel-deficient satellite engage in a cooperative ren-dezvous, exchange fuel, and then return to any available orbital slots left vacant by other active satellites. We propose a methodology, based on a network flow formu-lation, to determine the CE-P2P maneuvers that use the minimum amount of fuel during the ensuing orbital transfers. Since the methodology may yield sub-optimal solutions, we provide estimates of sub-optimality of these solutions. Finally, and with the help of numerical examples, we compare the CE-P2P, E-P2P and C-P2P alternatives, and demonstrate the benefits of CE-P2P maneuvers in terms of reduc-ing the overall fuel expenditure