Satellite attitude control by an internal moving mass and a momentum wheel

Abstract

The regulation of three angular velocity components and one attitude anglepitch angle- of a satellite in a large tumbled state through an internal moving mass and a momentum wheel is analyzed. Approximate analytic solutions for the amplitude of an internal mass and corresponding dissipating rate of kinetic energy are derived in order to determine feedback gains which maximize the dissipating rate of kinetic energy and which are subject to amplitude constraint. It is shown that effects of system parameters and feedback gains on the performance are predictable by the derived formulas, and that the method for determining feedback gains is not only time-saving but also efficient.