The control of a permanent rotational motion and equilibrium position of aspacecraft

This article has adopted an analytical method to obtain a non-linear contro l law to reach the exponential asymptotic stablity of the permanent rotatio nal motion of a spacecraft. The control moments achieving this rotational m otion are obtained. The control moments to establish exponential asymptotic stablity of the mentioned motion are obtained as non-linear functions of t he phase coordinates of the spacecraft. The general solution of the equatio ns of perturbed motion is derived, Furthermore, analysis and numerical simu lation study of this solution are presented. For numerical examples the tim e needed for control is calculated. An equilibrium position of the spacecra ft is proved to be exponentially asymptotically stable as a special case of the above-studied problem. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reser ved.