Request priority-based method for planning the use of ground control facilities for spacecraft

Based on results of analysis of the existing procedure for planning the use of Ground Automated Control Facility (GACF) for spacecraft during near-term and short-term planning, a problem statement was formulated for planning the use of GACF facilities taking into account the priorities of requests for conducting spacecraft communications sessions, which includes initial conditions, scheduling constraints, objective function. The solubility of the problem is based on the existing scientific groundwork in the field of preparing the input data and calculating the priority values for requests to conduct spacecraft communications sessions based on coordinated expert judgments on the importance of factors that affect priorities of the requests. In accordance with the problem, an algorithm was developed for planning the use of GACF facilities, and the paper provides a description of the algorithm, of the data arrays that are used and generated by the algorithm, of its interrelationship with the developed software, and of the conditions for the algorithm implementation.