Recovering Linear Controllability of an Underactuated Spacecraft by Exploiting Solar Radiation Pressure

You are here: Homepage > Search

Recovering Linear Controllability of an Underactuated Spacecraft by Exploiting Solar Radiation Pressure

Petersen, Christopher D. / Leve, Frederick / Flynn, Molly / Kolmanovsky, Ilya

This paper describes a method for recovering linear controllability for the attitude of an underactuated spacecraft by accounting for the effects of solar radiation pressure in the spacecraft attitude model. The developments are based on a spacecraft model that has at least two functional reaction wheels. A solar radiation pressure torque model that is a function of spacecraft attitude is incorporated and, under suitable assumptions, can be simplified for spacecraft with body symmetry. Conditions are given under which a symmetric-body spacecraft will experience zero solar radiation pressure torque. The stability of the underactuated spacecraft model is discussed, and necessary and sufficient conditions are given for linear controllability to be regained when solar radiation pressure torques are included in the spacecraft attitude model. With linear controllability restored, conventional controllers can be designed for underactuated spacecraft. Controllability of a cuboid spacecraft under the influence of solar radiation pressure is then analyzed. Nonlinear simulations illustrate this novel approach to recover pointing by controlling two functioning reaction wheels while two other wheels undergo subsequent failures.