Study of the docking and collision avoidance manoeuvres for a CubeSat with a Mothercraft

In January this year, 143 SmallSats were launched into orbit in a single launch by a dedicated SpaceX mission, setting a new record that shows the importance that small satellites play in the current space economy. Among the small satellites, CubeSats are revolutionising the space market with their low cost and mission versatility. The number of technology demonstrators in which they are involved is growing, but rendezvous and docking operations are still a very challenging topic for CubeSats. RVD manoeuvres require limited margins of error to ensure the safety of the spacecraft involved, which results in stringent requirements being met. A design that provides autonomous vehicle control and the ability to perform rapid escape manoeuvres is essential for the success of these operations. This thesis investigates guidance and control strategies to perform a docking operation between a 12U CubeSat and a Mothercraft with Space Rider characteristics safely even in the presence of one failure and ensuring rapid collision avoidance manoeuvres in the event of multiple failures.