ESA GNC Conference Papers Repository

The science goals of future observation missions have become increasingly demanding in terms of availability, precision and spacecraft agility requirements. These demands are driven by the fact that maximization of operational time and scientific image resolution with multiple instruments would lead to an increased scientific return. The currently envisioned design solutions rely on the use of multi-body and multi-actuator spacecraft that offer the possibility to perform interconnected maneuvers between the main body and the relatively moving scientific payload or instrument. Such spacecraft architectures and complex interaction operations represent an additional challenge for modeling, analysis, and attitude control design. Modern robust control design techniques have the capability to address these challenges. This work first develops a simulation architecture and design model in order to subsequently derive simulation and advanced control design models in a systematic manner. Then, the application of the Linear Fractional Transformation modeling paradigm to multi-body and multi-actuator spacecraft with flexible properties and accounting for the bodies relative motions effects in the moment of inertia model is presented. Lastly, robust stability is assessed using the robust analysis tool known as the structured singular value , providing robustness results for the entire range of uncertainties defined in the system.