Analytical Evaluation of a Method of Midcourse Guidance for Rendezvous with Earth Satellites

A digital-computer simulation was made of the midcourse (or ascent) phase of a rendezvous between a ferry vehicle and a space station. The simulation involved a closed-loop guidance system in which both the relative position and relative velocity between ferry and station are measured (by simulated radar) and the relative-velocity corrections required to null the miss distance computed and applied. The results are used to study the effectiveness of the guidance equations and the effects of errors in launch conditions and errors in the navigation (radar) data. Trajectories are presented for rendezvous with a space station in a circular orbit and in an elliptic orbit. (Author).