Spatial orientation control with minimum fuel consumption for spacecraft

Аuthors

Levsky M. V.

Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, 18, Novozavodskaya St., Moscow, 121087, Russia

e-mail: niiks@knrunichev.com

Abstract

An optimal control problem for a spatial maneuver is described and solved to change a spacecraft orientation with minimum fuel consumption. It is shown that optimal solution belongs to the two-impulse control class. The spacecraft orientation maneuver under this control performs as a free (uncontrolled) motion. Control techniques based on the free trajectories technique are proposed to enhance implementation accuracy for predefined spacecraft angular attitude. The synthesized controls are invariant both to external disturbances and parametrical errors. Results of mathematical modeling are given to demonstrate high efficiency of the proposed control algorithms as well as their practical feasibility.