Integrative Control Approach for Agile Spacecraft Maneuvers

Earth observation satellites require rapid attitude maneuvering and high pointing accuracy for imaging payloads. This paper presents the integrative control approach for maneuvering of Indian agile spacecrafts. The maneuver considered is a spot to spot, where the spacecraft has an initial non-zero angular rate and complete the maneuver with final imaging rate. Maneuver Iterative algorithm is used for computing the maneuver time between various imaging targets. The control algorithm is a state feedback form and can be incorporated for initial and final angular rates. The maneuver & control algorithms are integrated together and have been demonstrated for typical rest to rest and rate to rate maneuvers. The Reaction Wheels are used as control actuator and feasibility of the algorithm for on-board implementation is demonstrated by digital simulations.