Mechanism and Application of Attitude and Orbit Coupling Dynamics for Spacecraft Proximity Relative Motion

This paper analyzes the root causes of attitude-orbit coupling effects of spacecraft proximity relative motion in space precision collaborative tasks from three aspects: mathematical representation, physical definition, and engineering applications. At first, taking mathematical representation as the context, spacecraft proximity relative motion representations such as particle relative dynamic model, extended particle relative dynamic model, and dual-spiral-based relative dynamic model are investigated in detail. On this basis, the mechanism of attitude-orbit coupling effects originating from different mathematical representations is further investigated. Second, spiral theory–based attitude-orbit coupling relative dynamics is developed. The innovation of this work is extending the dual number representation from rigid body to flexible body, which makes it possible to describe the proximity relative motion between two rigid-flexible coupling spacecraft. Third, the application value of attitude-orbit coupling relative dynamic model in precision collaborative mission such as precision formation, rendezvous and docking, space manipulation, and on-orbit assembly is provided. Finally, simulation results verify the engineering significance of the attitude-orbit coupling relative dynamic model.