M. Ueba et T. Yasaka, ATTITUDE MANEUVER OF SERVICE VEHICLE WITH SPINNING SPENT SATELLITE, Journal of guidance, control, and dynamics, 17(5), 1994, pp. 1007-1010
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.