Optimal Multi-impulse Elliptic Rendezvous Using Stagnation Escaping Whale Optimization Algorithm

Various optimization algorithms have been applied to obtain a global solution for rendezvous trajectory optimization problems. However, the global solution is not always ensured due to performance limitations of the optimization algorithms. In this paper, we investigate the optimal fuel consumption multi-impulse elliptic rendezvous using stagnation escaping whale optimization algorithm (SE-WOA). We construct a mathematical model of the elliptic rendezvous based on Tschauner–Hempel equations and an optimization model including practical constraints to describe a practical rendezvous. We propose the SE-WOA which has strong global search ability and fast convergence speed with an adaptive balancing parameter. A case study of three-impulse rendezvous is performed to verify improvements using SE-WOA and compare the result of the SE-WOA with other optimization algorithms.