Similitude design method for motion reconstruction of space cooperative vehicles

In this paper, a similarity theory based absolute motion equivalent substitution scheme is proposed such that the absolute motion and relative motion of space cooperative vehicles in the ground experiment can be realized simultaneously. Firstly, the dimensional analysis is used to give the similarity criterions of orbit and attitude dynamics of space cooperative vehicles under ground test condition. Then, an absolute motion equivalent substitution method is proposed to establish orbit and attitude dynamics equations of simulated vehicles for motion reconstruction under ground test condition. At last, the specific implementation steps of test schemes are given for the ground experiment system of the final approach phase of spacecraft rendezvous and docking. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.