Area targets observation mission planning of agile satellite considering the drift angle constraint

Abstract

The generation of agile satellites has better flexible three-axis maneuverability, which makes dynamic imaging possible. A mission planning algorithm is proposed to deal with the area target observation problems of agile satellites, which takes the drift angle constraint of the observation instrument into account. First, an area target observation path planning algorithm is presented based on the dynamic imaging mode and the grid discretization approach. Second, the constraint of drift angle is introduced into the mission planning to account for the effect of image motion on time delay integration charge coupled device imaging. Third, an improved ant colony algorithm based on sensational and consciousness strategy is developed to solve the travelling salesman problem with constraints. Finally, the computer simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can effectively solve the area target mission planning problem.