Spacecraft formation flying in co-planar identical orbits with oppositely directed apse lines (eccentricity vectors) allows simultaneous in-situ measurements in different altitudes and time-sequential measurements in a limited altitude range (rapid revisit); a key enabling factor in understanding many poorly understood phenomena in our atmosphere and its interaction with the magnetosphere. The dynamics and control problem for flying formations in mirrored orbits are investigated using the Mechanisms of Energetic Mass Ejection - Explorer (MEME-X) mission concept as a case study. It is determined that the proposed two-craft and four-craft configurations require routine maintenance to correct their relative motion. The formation maintenance costs are quantified for both configurations and determined to be within the capabilities of small satellites. A high-fidelity end-to-end simulation is developed to model the entire two-craft mission concept, from orbit insertion to decommissioning, providing an approximate baseline for the flight dynamics costs of similar missions using multiple spacecraft flying in mirrored orbits.

航天器编队以相反的近地点线（偏心矢量）在共面相同的轨道上飞行，从而可以在不同的高度同时进行原位测量，并在有限的高度范围内进行时间顺序测量（快速重新访问）；理解我们大气中许多人们尚未充分理解的现象及其与磁层相互作用的关键因素。以高能质量抛射器-探索者（MEME-X）任务概念为例，研究了镜像轨道中飞行编队的动力学和控制问题。确定所提出的两飞机和四飞机配置需要例行维护以校正它们的相对运动。两种配置的编队维护成本均被量化，并确定在小型卫星的能力范围内。