On-Orbit Experiment Results of Robust Symmetric Attitude Controller for ETS-VIII Spacecraft

This paper reports results of an on-orbit experiment using Engineering Test Satellite VIII (ETS-VIII) spacecraft. The ETS-VIII was launched into geostationary orbit by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in December 18 2006. The main mission is to support next-generation mobile digital communications, and for this purpose it is equipped with two large deployable antenna reflectors and a pair of large solar paddles that rotate around the pitch axis. For the spacecraft, the authors have proposed several control methods by applying advanced control theories for the linear parameter varying multi-input multi-output system. Among them, this paper describes the results using two degrees-of-freedom control system based on symmetric feedback control.