Patent ID: 8262028

Claim:
A spacecraft comprising: a propulsion system making it possible to exert a force of variable magnitude and orientation on the spacecraft, and a control system designed to control the propulsion system in terms of magnitude and orientation so as to make the spacecraft approach a target around a planet, with the aid of a force which comprises at least two components (f x , f y , f z ), in the rotating reference frame tied to the target, which depend substantially linearly on the corresponding coordinate of the craft in this reference frame, the force being defined by: f x =−3.Ω 2 x, f y =0 , f z =Ω 2 z: f x =−3Ω 2 x+ε.A, with ε± 1, A being a positive constant, f y =0 , f z =Ω 2 z; or f x =−3.Ω 2 x, f y =ε.B, ε=± 1, B being a positive constant, f z =Ω 2 z.