Relative Position and Attitude Control of a Satellite Considering Fuel Efficiency

This study deals with the orbital motion of a follower satellite controlled by a few thrusters relative to a target satellite in a circular orbit. The thrusters of the follower are fixed to its body and generate constant unilateral forces. To generate control forces in the required directions, the follower attitude is controlled using the thruster forces only. Furthermore, the follower attitude needs to be controlled to estimate the relative position of the follower satellite from the time profile of the line-of-sight (LOS) angle. First, controllability using constant inputs in one direction is examined on the basis of modal analysis. Thereafter, the energy efficiency of controllers is discussed according to the direction of the control forces. Finally, numerical simulations are performed to verify the effectiveness of the controller and its energy efficiency.