ATTITUDE MANEUVER OF SERVICE VEHICLE WITH SPINNING SPENT SATELLITE

Orbit transfer of Earth-orbiting, spinning, spent satellites via a ser vice vehicle will constitute an important part of space infrastructure in the very near future. In the orbit transfer process, after grappli ng a spinning spent satellite with a hinge mechanism equipped on top o f a long arm, the service vehicle must maneuver in such a way as to av oid a collision with the spent satellite. This paper describes the com plex spinning dynamics of tbe service vehicle combined with the spent satellite, and the new control law for its attitude maneuver. The whol e equation of motion is derived by Kane's method and its three-dimensi onal motion is numerically simulated to confirm the effects of the con trol law, The control torque is an internal torque generated at the hi nges using the feedback of the hinge angular velocity and the hinge an gle, taking advantage of the energy dissipation during conservation of angular momentum. It is shown that the control law with a change of f eedback coefficient based on the hinge angular velocity is more effect ive than that with a change of feedback coefficient based on the hinge angle.