Optimization for overall planning of space-station on-orbit activities and logistics

Abstract This paper develops a problem formulation corresponding to the long-term overall operation planning for large-scale space-station missions that need to be executed in 3–5 years. The space station overall operation planning consists of the on-orbit activity allocation and its supporting logistics design. A two-level optimization approach is proposed to solve this complicated problem hierarchically by using a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. The first-level problem is to optimize the overall allocation scheme of on-orbit activities to achieve the activity distribution equilibrium on logistics demand, resource requirement, and activity characteristics. The second-level problem is to optimize the launch time and loading scheme of visiting vehicles under multiple constraints to meet the on-board supply demand, and a pretreatment strategy is proposed based on the space-station logistics domain knowledge to resolve constraints a priori. Numerical results indicate that the proposed formulation for space-station overall operation planning is effective, and the proposed pretreatment approach can reduce the difficulty of satisfying multiple constraints in optimization.