This book discusses all spacecraft attitude control-related topics: spacecraft (including attitude measurements, actuator, and disturbance torques), modeling, spacecraft attitude determination and estimation, and spacecraft attitude controls. Unlike other books addressing these topics, this book focuses on quaternion-based methods because of its many merits. The book lays a brief, but necessary background on rotation sequence representations and frequently used reference frames that form the foundation of spacecraft attitude description. It then discusses the fundamentals of attitude determination using vector measurements, various efficient (including very recently developed) attitude determination algorithms, and the instruments and methods of popular vector measurements. With available attitude measurements, attitude control designs for inertial point and nadir pointing are presented in terms of required torques which are independent of actuators in use. Given the required control torques, some actuators are not able to generate the accurate control torques, therefore, spacecraft attitude control design methods with achievable torques for these actuators (for example, magnetic torque bars and control moment gyros) are provided. Some rigorous controllability results are provided. The book also includes attitude control in some special maneuvers, such as orbital-raising, docking and rendezvous, that are normally not discussed in similar books. Almost all design methods are based on state-spaced modern control approaches, such as linear quadratic optimal control, robust pole assignment control, model predictive control, and gain scheduling control. Applications of these methods to spacecraft attitude control problems are provided. Appendices are provided for readers who are not familiar with these topics.

Roger D. Werking Head, Attitude Determination and Control Section National Aeronautics and Space Administration/ Goddard Space Flight Center Extensiye work has been done for many years in the areas of attitude determination, attitude prediction, and attitude control. During this time, it has been difficult to obtain reference material that provided a comprehensive overview of attitude support activities. This lack of reference material has made it difficult for those not intimately involved in attitude functions to become acquainted with the ideas and activities which are essential to understanding the various aspects of spacecraft attitude support. As a result, I felt the need for a document which could be used by a variety of persons to obtain an understanding of the work which has been done in support of spacecraft attitude objectives. It is believed that this book, prepared by the Computer Sciences Corporation under the able direction of Dr. James Wertz, provides this type of reference. This book can serve as a reference for individuals involved in mission planning, attitude determination, and attitude dynamics; an introductory textbook for stu dents and professionals starting in this field; an information source for experimen ters or others involved in spacecraft-related work who need information on spacecraft orientation and how it is determined, but who have neither the time nor the resources to pursue the varied literature on this subject; and a tool for encouraging those who could expand this discipline to do so, because much remains to be done to satisfy future needs.

This book explores topics that are central to the field of spacecraft attitude determination and control. The authors provide rigorous theoretical derivations of significant algorithms accompanied by a generous amount of qualitative discussions of the subject matter. The book documents the development of the important concepts and methods in a manner accessible to practicing engineers, graduate-level engineering students and applied mathematicians. It includes detailed examples from actual mission designs to help ease the transition from theory to practice and also provides prototype algorithms that are readily available on the author’s website. Subject matter includes both theoretical derivations and practical implementation of spacecraft attitude determination and control systems. It provides detailed derivations for attitude kinematics and dynamics and provides detailed description of the most widely used attitude parameterization, the quaternion. This title also provides a thorough treatise of attitude dynamics including Jacobian elliptical functions. It is the first known book to provide detailed derivations and explanations of state attitude determination and gives readers real-world examples from actual working spacecraft missions. The subject matter is chosen to fill the void of existing textbooks and treatises, especially in state and dynamics attitude determination. MATLAB code of all examples will be provided through an external website.

Spacecraft Dynamics and Control: The Embedded Model Control Approach provides a uniform and systematic way of approaching space engineering control problems from the standpoint of model-based control, using state-space equations as the key paradigm for simulation, design and implementation. The book introduces the Embedded Model Control methodology for the design and implementation of attitude and orbit control systems. The logic architecture is organized around the embedded model of the spacecraft and its surrounding environment. The model is compelled to include disturbance dynamics as a repository of the uncertainty that the control law must reject to meet attitude and orbit requirements within the uncertainty class. The source of the real-time uncertainty estimation/prediction is the model error signal, as it encodes the residual discrepancies between spacecraft measurements and model output. The embedded model and the uncertainty estimation feedback (noise estimator in the book) constitute the state predictor feeding the control law. Asymptotic pole placement (exploiting the asymptotes of closed-loop transfer functions) is the way to design and tune feedback loops around the embedded model (state predictor, control law, reference generator). The design versus the uncertainty class is driven by analytic stability and performance inequalities. The method is applied to several attitude and orbit control problems. - The book begins with an extensive introduction to attitude geometry and algebra and ends with the core themes: state-space dynamics and Embedded Model Control - Fundamentals of orbit, attitude and environment dynamics are treated giving emphasis to state-space formulation, disturbance dynamics, state feedback and prediction, closed-loop stability - Sensors and actuators are treated giving emphasis to their dynamics and modelling of measurement errors. Numerical tables are included and their data employed for numerical simulations - Orbit and attitude control problems of the European GOCE mission are the inspiration of numerical exercises and simulations - The suite of the attitude control modes of a GOCE-like mission is designed and simulated around the so-called mission state predictor - Solved and unsolved exercises are included within the text - and not separated at the end of chapters - for better understanding, training and application - Simulated results and their graphical plots are developed through MATLAB/Simulink code

A textbook that incorporates the latest methods used for the analysis of spacecraft orbital, attitude, and structural dynamics and control. Spacecraft dynamics is treated as a dynamic system with emphasis on practical applications, typical examples of which are the analysis and redesign of the pointing control system of the Hubble Space Telescope and the analysis of an active vibrations control for the COFS (Control of Flexible Structures) Mast Flight System. In addition to the three subjects mentioned above, dynamic systems modeling, analysis, and control are also discussed. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Satellites are used increasingly in telecommunications, scientific research, surveillance, and meteorology, and these satellites rely heavily on the effectiveness of complex onboard control systems. This 1997 book explains the basic theory of spacecraft dynamics and control and the practical aspects of controlling a satellite. The emphasis throughout is on analyzing and solving real-world engineering problems. For example, the author discusses orbital and rotational dynamics of spacecraft under a variety of environmental conditions, along with the realistic constraints imposed by available hardware. Among the topics covered are orbital dynamics, attitude dynamics, gravity gradient stabilization, single and dual spin stabilization, attitude maneuvers, attitude stabilization, and structural dynamics and liquid sloshing.

This book de-emphasizes the formal mathematical description of spacecraft on-board attitude and orbit applications in favor of a more qualitative, concept-oriented presentation of these topics. The information presented in this book was originally given as a set of lectures in 1999 and 2000 instigated by a NASA Flight Software Branch Chief at Goddard Space Flight Center. The Branch Chief later suggested this book. It provides an approachable insight into the area and is not intended as an essential reference work. ACS Without an Attitude is intended for programmers and testers new to the field who are seeking a commonsense understanding of the subject matter they are coding and testing in the hope that they will reduce their risk of introducing or missing the key software bug that causes an abrupt termination in their spacecraft’s mission. In addition, the book will provide managers and others working with spacecraft with a basic understanding of this subject.