The research discussed here has, largely, been motivated by the successful attitude control performance of the European Space Agency X-ray astronomy satellite, Exosat. This three-axis stabilised spacecraft utilises an unconventional gas jet control law developed by the author, based on the state-space approach. The short term attitude of this nominally rigid body satellite is maintained to an accuracy of within plus/minus 1 arcsecond (the angle subtended by a 3/4 inch marble at a point about 1 mile distant). It was in the quest for a flexible spacecraft attitude control system offering similar performance, that new concepts in spacecraft attitude control evolved. The research was also stimulated by the need to maintain high pointing accuracy through station-keeping manoeuvres of geosynchronous communications satellites with large, flexible solar panels.


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    Title :

    Post-EXOSAT research in spacecraft attitude control


    Additional title:

    Post-EXOSAT-Forschungen fuer die Lageregelung von Raumfahrzeugen


    Contributors:
    Dodds, S.J. (author)


    Publication date :

    1987


    Size :

    , 11 Bilder, 18 Quellen


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English






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    White, N.E. | Elsevier | 1989



    EXOSAT x-ray imaging optics

    Korte, P.A.J. de / Giralt, R. / Coste, J.N. et al. | Tema Archive | 1981