Glideslope guidance for near-range fuel-optimal rendezvous of elliptical orbit

This paper presents a glideslope guidance method for autonomous rendezvous of spacecraft to approach, to fly around, and to depart from a target spacecraft in an elliptical orbit. The method is based on the closed-form solution of the Tschauner-Hempel(T-H) equations. The multi-impulse glideslope algorithms in the paper are general, capable of effect a translation motion of spacecraft in any direction in space autonomously, decelerating if approaching the target or a nearby location, and accelerating if receding away from it. Simulation results show the practicality and effectiveness of this method.