Minimum-Time Attitude Reorientations of Three-Axis Stabilized Spacecraft Using Only Magnetic Torquers

Minimum-time attitude maneuvers of three-axis stabilized spacecraft are presented to study the feasibility of using three magnetic torquers perform large angle maneuvers. Previous applications of magnetic torquers have been limited to spin-stabilized satellites or supplemental actuators of three-axis stabilized satellites because of the capability of magnetic torquers to produce torques about a specific axes. The minimum-time attitude maneuver problem is solved by applying a parameter optimization method for orbital cases to verify that the magnetic torque system can perform as required Direct collocation and a nonlinear programming method with a constraining method by Simpson's rule are used to convert the minimum-time maneuver problems into parameter optimization problems. An appropriate number of nodes is presented to find a bang-bang type solution to the minimum-time problem. Some modifications in the boundary conditions of final attitude are made to solve the problem more robustly and efficiently. The numerical studies illustrate that the presented method can provide a capable and robust attitude reorientation by using only magnetic torquers. However, the required maneuver times are relatively longer than when thrusters or wheels are used Performance of the system in the presence of errors in the magnetometer as well as the geomagnetic field model still good.

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