Spin-axis stabilization of symmetric spacecraft with two control torques

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that a symmetric spacecraft with two control torques supplied by gas jet actuators is not controllable, if the two control torques are along axes that span the two-dimensional plane orthogonal to the axis of symmetry. However, feedback control laws can be derived for a restricted problem corresponding to attitude stabilization about the symmetry axis. In this configuration, the final state of the system is a uniform revolute motion about the symmetry axis. The purpose of this paper is to present a new methodology for constructing feedback control laws for this problem, based on a new formulation for the attitude kinematics. © 1994.