Reconfiguration of formation flying in the vicinity of the Lagrange point

Formation flying around Lagrange points is very important for deep space explorations. This paper investigates formation reconfiguration around the Halo orbit using the impulse method to execute the reconfiguration. Assuming that the reconfiguration time is short, the analysis shows that the beginning-ending impulse method, which is very similar to Hohmann transfer, is the energy-optimal method of all two-impulse methods. Analytic expressions and numerical results given for the reconfiguration energy are almost the same when the reconfiguration time is short. Numerical examples show that the reconfiguration energy needed increases with the radius of the relative motion and decreases with the reconfiguration time.