Geometric Approach to Spacecraft Attitude Control Using Magnetic and Mechanical Actuation

摘要

InT IS well known that spacecraft in low Earth orbit can generatencontrol torques via the interaction of the Earth’s geomagnetic fieldnand onboard magnetic dipole moments (created via current-carryingncoils) [1,2]. As mentioned in [3], the major shortcoming of magneticnactuation (as the only onboard actuator) is that control torques cannonly be applied to the spacecraft in a plane orthogonal to the instan-ntaneous direction of the Earth’s magnetic field, which in turn meansnthat the spacecraft is instantaneously underactuated.