Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics and Control

Prof. Luiz Carlos Gadelha

UFABC

Introduction
Attitude dynamics and control in operations
Overview of attitude dynamics concepts
Reference frame or Coordinate Systems
 Introduction
Spacecraft dynamics and control involve many topics from mechanics and control theory.
The dynamics motion of a rigid body can be divided into two : translational and rotational.

For example, the motion of a rocket combine motion of the mass center in a parabolic
trajectory and the spinning motion rotating about its mass center. If the rocket is a point
mass ( orbital motion) one can ignore the rotational motion.
Actuality the rotational motion and translational motion are coupled and must be
studied together to obtain an accurate picture of the motion.
Usually the rocket does not follow the parabolic trajectory predicted by analysis of the
translational motion, because of the unbalanced forces and moments on the spinning ball.

The dynamics (mechanical) problems is divided into

kinematics and Kinetics (dynamics) .
For translational motion, kinematics is the study of the
change in position for a given velocity , whereas dynamics
is the study of how forces cause changes in velocity.
For rotational motion, kinematics is the study of the
change in orientation for a given angular velocity, and
kinetics is the study of how moments cause changes in
angular velocity.
Translational kinematics -> motion of a point in 3-D.
Rotational kinematics -> orientation ref. frame in 3-D .
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 Attitude dynamics and control in operations
Essentially all spacecraft include one or more subsystems intended to interact with or
observe other objects. Typically there is one primary subsystem that is known as the
payload (carga util) . For example, the primary mirror on the Hubble Space Telescope is
one of many instruments that are used to observe astronomical objects. The
communications system on an Intelsat satellite is its payload, and the infrared sensor on
board a Defense Support System (DSP) satellite is its payload.
The payload must be pointed at the subject with some accuracy specied by the customer.
The accuracy is typically specied as an angular quantity; e.g., 1 degree, 10 arcseconds, or 1
milliradian. The attitude control system designer must design the attitude determination
and control subsystem (ADCS) in order to meet the specied accuracy requirements.

CBERS Satellite and its subsystems and payload

 Overview of attitude dynamics concepts
The attitude of a spacecraft, i.e., its orientation in space, is an important concept in
spacecraft dynamics and control.
Attitude motion is approximately decoupled from orbital motion, so that the two subjects
are typically treated separately. More precisely, the orbital motion does have a signicant
effect on the attitude motion, but the attitude motion has a less signicant effect on the
orbital motion.
The most important aspects of attitude dynamics are attitude determination and attitude
control .
Orbit determination, involves processing observations by algorithm to compute the orbital
parameters for describing the orbital motion.
Attitude determination, described by three parameters such as Euler angles, by measuring
the directions from the spacecraft to some known points of interest.
Controlling the attitude of a spacecraft is also accomplished using a wide variety of
hardware and techniques, which depends on the requirements for pointing accuracy,
pointing stability, and maneuverability, as well as on other mission requirements such as
cost and lifetime.
Attitude control involves the application of torques or moments to the spacecraft. The
various methods can be grouped according to whether these torques are passive or active,
internal or external, and whether the torques are environmental or not.
 Reference frame or Coordinate Systems
The a Geocentric INERTIAL Coordinate System (I,J,K) where the origin of this system is
at the Earth’s center (geocentric). The x-axis points to the vernal equinox (ϒ), the z-axis
points to the North Pole and the y-axis is perpendicular to the x-axis and the z-axis.
This coordinate can also be called as Geocentric Equatorial Coordinate System or
Earth-Centered Inertial (ECI) system.

Terrestrial Cartesian Coordinates System

(I’,J’,K’)
The origin of this system is at the Earth’s
center (geocentric). The z-axis points to the
North Pole, the x-axis points to the
Greenwich Meridian, and the y-axis is
perpendicular to the x-axis and the z-axis.
This system is rotating with Earth.
 Coordinate Systems
ORBIT-FIXED COORDINATE SYSTEM (O1 , O2 , O3)
• This coordinate system is fixed with respect to the orbit of the
spacecraft, and its origin is at the center of mass of the body.
The z-axis points to the nadir direction, the y-axis points in the
direction to the negative orbit normal, and the x-axis is
perpendicular to the y-axis and the z-axis (same direction of
the velocity vector). Orbital frame

BODY-FIXED SYSTEM (b1 , b2, b3)

• This coordinate system is fixed with respect to the orbit of the
spacecraft, and its origin is at the center of mass of the body.
The x-axis, y-axis and z-axis are along the directions of the
inertia moments about the respective axis. Body frame
 Rotations Matrices and Parametrizations

• The orientation or angular position of a spacecraft is called

attitude. The mathematical tools to describe, to model and to
manipulate the attitude are based in coordinate frames (or
references), vectors, and their representations in coordinate
frames.

• The representations of vectors in different references need

rotations, the rotation matrices, and various parametrizations
of these rotation matrices (Euler angles, Euler parameters,
quaternions).
 Some references
• James R. Wertz (Editor), "Spacecraft Attitude Determination
and Control", Springer, 1978.
• Vincent L. Pisacane (Editor), "Fundamentals of Space
Systems", Oxford Univ Press, 2005.
• Marcel J. Sidi. “Spacecraft Dynamics and Control: A Practical
Engineering Approach”. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
• V. A. Chobotov. “Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics and Control”.
Krieger Publishing Co., 1991.
• Bong Wie. “Space Vehicle Dynamics and Control”. AIAA, 1998.
• M. D. Shuster, “A Survey of Attitude Representations,” The
Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 41, No. 4, October–
December 1993, pp. 439–517.