Possible Technologies of PROGRESS Transport Cargo Vehicle Control during Experiments in Free Flight

The International Space Station (ISS) project involves Russian PROGRESS transport cargo vehicles (TCV) which often keep residual resources of their basic systems after they have completed their main tasks in the ISS program. Utilization of these resources for research purposes during free flight of the TCV after its undocking from the station increases the efficiency of both the TCV operation and the ISS research program as a whole. Transport cargo vehicles can be used for investigations in various fields: in-flight tests, trials, validation and certification of various equipment, materials, and systems to the benefit other spacecraft programs; conducting the experiments within the framework of the Earth study using additionally installed equipment; experiments with microgravity taking into account specific capabilities of TCV; launch of small satellites and explorers after TCV undocking from the station and settling into specified orbit, etc. To perform investigations on the base of the PROGRESS transport cargo vehicles, new efficient technologies are proposed. These technologies required some specific methods of control to be developed. This paper addresses these technologies, as well as some of the developed control methods.

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