Device for control of relative position(s) by measurements of power, for a spacecraft of a group of spacecraft in formation

A control device (D) for a spacecraft (Si) of a group of spacecraft intended to travel in a chosen formation, comprising:

• a set of at least three send/receive antennas (Aj) installed on at least three differently oriented faces of said spacecraft (Si) and adapted to send/receive radio-frequency signals,
• processor means (MT) adapted to estimate the send directions of signals sent by the other spacecraft (Si′) of the group on the basis of said signals received by said antennas (Aj),
• first measuring means (M1) adapted to determine the power of the signals received by each of said antennas (Aj) and to deliver sets of powers each associated with one of said other spacecraft (Si′) of the group,
• and storage means (BD) adapted to store sets of cartographic data each representative of the powers of the signals received by each of said antennas (Aj) as a function of chosen send directions,
• wherein said processor means (MT) are adapted to compare each set of powers delivered by said first measuring means (M1) to said stored sets of cartographic data so as to estimate each send direction of the signals sent by the other spacecraft (Si′) of the group with respect to a system of axes fixed with respect to said spacecraft (Si).