Attitude maneuver path optimization for small scale spacescraft

Abstract

During its flight, Spacecrafts need to maneuver its attitude across a number of predefined positions. The order to traverse these attitudes is a combinational optimization problem. In this article, fuel cost is estimated by analyzing the angular momentum change during attitude transitions. Based on this estimation, an optimization algorithm for both fuel-cost and maneuver-time oriented path planner is introduced. Simulation result demonstrated the effectiveness of proposed approach.