Abstract
We propose a model predictive control (MPC) policy for simultaneous station keeping, attitude control, and momentum management of a low-thrust nadir-pointing geostationary satellite equipped with reaction wheels and ON-OFF electric thrusters mounted on boom assemblies. Attitude control is performed using an inner loop SO(3)-based control law with the reaction wheels, while the outer loop MPC policy maintains the satellite within a narrow station-keeping window and performs momentum management using electric thrusters. For reducing propellant consumption, our MPC uses two different prediction horizons: a short horizon for the states associated with the orbit's inclination and a longer horizon for all other states. Furthermore, to handle the ON-OFF nature of the thruster while retaining low computational burden, we develop a strategy for quantizing the continuous thrust command, which also allows for trading off the number thrust pulses and fuel consumption. We validate the controller in a closed-loop simulation with the high-precision orbit propagation provided by the Systems Tool Kit (STK) and assess the robustness to model uncertainty and measurement noise.
Original language | English (US) |
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Journal | IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology |
DOIs | |
State | Accepted/In press - 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:IEEE
Keywords
- Attitude control
- electric propulsion
- model predictive control (MPC)
- momentum management
- satellite
- spacecraft control.