Abstract: In recent years, the LEO constellation programs have developed rapidly and become a “new battlefield” in the global competition of space strategic resources. Firstly, up-to-date status of LEO megaconstellations was described, and the current status of LEO mega-constellations in China was introduced. Configuration design methods and characteristics of constellation were summarized from four aspects, including mission requirements, coverage characteristics, perturbation compensation and spare strategy. Then, according to the whole control process of satellite constellations configuration from orbit to departure, the methods and characteristics of initialization control, stationkeeping control, reconfiguration control, constellation collision avoidance control and de-orbit control were reviewed. Finally, the future research aspects of the configuration design and configuration control technology of the LEO mega-constellations were looked into.

Key words: LEO mega-constellations, constellations configuration design, mission requirements, coverage characteristics, perturbation compensation, spare strategy, constellations configuration control