Attitude control of spinning solar sail considering the deformation by solar radiation pressure

Masayuki Sugita*, Ryu Funase, Yuichi Tsuda, Osamu Mori, Fuminori Hanaoka, Jun'ichiro Kawaguchi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Solar sail is one of the promising propulsion systems for future deep space exploration missions as it does not require any fuel to acquire propulsive force. However, the attitude control system of the solar sail, which controls the direction of the sail and thus the propulsive force, has not been much studied, although this constitutes the essential part of the orbital control using solar sail. This paper discusses the attitude dynamics and the control method of a spinning type solar sail spacecraft. The spinning type solar sail has no rigid structure supporting its membrane. This type of mechanism has the advantage in its simple and lightweight structure, however, the attitude control is difficult due to the flexibility of the membrane. In this paper, we introduced a mathematical dynamics model including first vibration mode of the membrane which can handle coupled motion of a rigid spacecraft and a flexible membrane, and analytically developed a controller that can avoid unnecessary oscillatory motion. The performance of the controller and the effect of solar radiation pressure, which can deform the membrane of solar sail, on the controller were verified by numerical simulations using more precise multi-particle numerical model.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInternational Astronautical Federation - 59th International Astronautical Congress 2008, IAC 2008
Pages5114-5123
Number of pages10
Publication statusPublished - 2008
Externally publishedYes
Event59th International Astronautical Congress 2008, IAC 2008 - Glasgow, United Kingdom
Duration: 29 Sept 20083 Oct 2008

Publication series

NameInternational Astronautical Federation - 59th International Astronautical Congress 2008, IAC 2008
Volume8

Conference

Conference59th International Astronautical Congress 2008, IAC 2008
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityGlasgow
Period29/09/083/10/08

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