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Abstract

An approach for the design of a momentum unloading system for a spacecraft controlled by momentum exchange actuators is proposed. The approach is based on formulating momentum unloading as a control problem of a parametrically perturbed periodic system. An equivalent discrete-time robust control design problem is formulated using a point-mapping-based numerical algorithm. Established robust control analysis can then be used to develop and analyse the robustness of the unloading control law. The method is demonstrated on an Earth-pointing satellite with magnetic torquers serving as unloading actuators. Earth's magnetic field is modelled as a tilted dipole that consists of a periodic term and bounded perturbations. A discrete-time representation of the system is used to develop an unloading control law and the structured singular value theory is employed to analyse its robustness to parametric uncertainties.

Keywords

attitude control discrete-time systems geomagnetism uncertain systems periodic control robustness space-vehicle control

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Design of Spacecraft Momentum Unloading Using Discrete-Time Formulation

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