Dynamic Programming Approach to Multi-Agent Spacecraft Formation Trajectory Planning

Spacecraft Formation Flying enables the deployment of multiple spacecraft in a coordinated arrangement or pattern to achieve complex observational and communication tasks while maintaining relative position. In such scenarios, one of the most critical challenges is to design the optimal trajectories that manage the formation integrity while keeping the mission cost-effective and avoiding the risen obstacles. This paper presents a novel approach to plan trajectories for spacecraft formation flying utilizing Multi-Agent Dynamic Programming (MADP), a decentralized computational approach that leverages the problems while considering constraints and handling the complex combination of multi-spacecraft coordination.