The INTELSAT VII/VIIA generation of global communications satellites

Developed primarily to provide continuation of services from the INTELSAT V satellites in the Pacific Ocean Region, this latest generation of satellites also has utility for operation in other roles. Several new technologies are combined to give cost-effective international satellite communications on a global, regional and domestic basis. This new higher power satellite will form a fundamental part of the INTELSAT global network, having been designed to match the projected traffic demands and future service requirements.     

Comments on “Fully magnetic attitude control for spacecraft subject to gravity gradient”

The Lyapunov argument used in Wi niewski and Blanke, (Automatica 35 (1999) 1201) to establish asymptotic stability of a magnetic control law for an earth-orbiting spacecraft is incorrect. It is shown here that a small change to the assumed form of the control law can remedy the situation.     

OPTIMUM-AIV: A planning and scheduling system for spacecraft AIV

This paper presents a project undertaken for the European Space Agency (ESA). The project is developing a knowledge based system for planning and scheduling of activities for spacecraft assembly, integration and verification (AIV). The system extends to the monitoring of plan execution and the plan repair phases.

The objectives of the contract are to develop an operational kernel of a planning, scheduling and plan repair tool, called OPTIMUM-AIV, and to provide facilities which will allow individual projects to customize the kernel to suit its specific needs. The kernel shall consist of a set of software functionalities for assistance in the initial specification of the AIV plan, in the verification and generation of valid plans and schedules for the AIV activities, and in interactive monitoring and execution problem recovery for the detailed AIV plans. Embedded in OPTIMUM-AIV are external interfaces which allow integration with alternative scheduling systems and project databases.

The current status of the OPTIMUM-AIV project, as of May 1991, is that the architectural design of the system has been agreed on by ESTEC/ESA and detailed design and implementation is now underway, expecting a final delivery in October of 1991.     

单粒子效应对航天器的威胁及空间飞行试验评论（二）

列举了若干航天器因单粒子效应而出现的异常或故障。阐述了单粒子效应空间飞行试验方法和预估方法。总结了多颗航天器单粒子效应空间飞行试验结果。依据空间飞行试验结果，对静止卫星、低太阳同步轨道卫星和椭圆轨道卫星在太阳宁静和太阳耀斑期间单粒子效应作了比较。     

爪型航天器对接机构容差性能分析

在航天器对接结构优化设计问题的研究中,航天器对接机构对在轨服务有重要作用,爪型航天器对接机构是新型对接机构.新型对接机构对对接任务的初始位姿偏差的容差性能需要进行研究,对接机构的性能将直接决定对接任务的成败.针对爪型对接机构的容差性能这一问题,利用三维造型软件Pro/E和机械系统动力学仿真分析软件Adams建立了爪型航天器对接机构虚拟样机模型,通过改变单参数变量方法进行对接过程仿真,对仿真结果进行对比分析,可为爪型对接机构的设计、对接初始条件确定和控制策略的制定提供参考.     

热传导及其在航天器系统中的计算方法

热传导以及热问题是航天器以及内部有效载荷在工作时必须注意的问题。为了计算出航天器系统的温度分布,进行温度影响的分析,主要研究了热传递过程以及热传递在航天器中的实际数学模型,进行热分析计算的几种数值方法,并对热网络模型计算法和有限元模型计算法做了详细的论述。通过上述方法计算出了整个系统的温度分布,对后续的航天器热控提供了可靠的依据。     

Spacecraft relative rotation tracking without angular velocity measurements

We present a solution to the problem of tracking relative rotation in a leader-follower spacecraft formation using feedback from relative attitude only. The controller incorporates an approximate-differentiation filter to account for the unmeasured angular velocity. We show uniform practical asymptotic stability (UPAS) of the closed-loop system. For simplicity, we assume that the leader is controlled and that we know orbital perturbations; however, this assumption can be easily relaxed to boundedness without degrading the stability property. We also assume that angular velocities of spacecraft relative to an inertial frame are bounded. Simulation results of a leader-follower spacecraft formation using the proposed controller structure are also presented.     

Spacecraft formation reconfiguration with collision avoidance

In this paper we present a behavioral control solution for reconfiguration of a spacecraft formation using the Null-Space Based (NSB) concept. The solution is task based, and aims to reconfigure and maintain a rigid formation while avoiding collisions between spacecraft. A model of relative translation is derived, together with a passivity-based sliding surface controller which globally stabilizes the equilibrium point of the closed-loop system. The NSB control method is implemented by giving each task different priorities and then calculating desired velocity and a Jacobian matrix for each spacecraft and each task. The velocity vector for each task is then projected into the null-space for higher prioritized tasks to remove conflicting velocity components. Simulation results are presented, showing that each spacecraft moves into the predefined formation without breaking any rules for the higher priority tasks, and all collisions are avoided.     

Chance-constrained model predictive control for spacecraft rendezvous with disturbance estimation

A robust Model Predictive Controller (MPC) is used to solve the problem of spacecraft rendezvous, using the Hill-Clohessy-Wiltshire model with additive disturbances and line-of-sight constraints. Since a standard (non-robust) MPC is not able to cope with disturbances, a robust MPC is designed using a chance-constrained approach for robust satisfaction of constraints in a probabilistic sense. Disturbances are modeled as Gaussian allowing for an explicit transformation of the probabilistic constraints into simple algebraic constraints. To estimate the distribution parameters a predictor of disturbances is proposed. Both robust and non-robust MPC control laws are compared using the Monte Carlo method, which shows the superiority of the robust MPC.     

Dual-quaternion based fault-tolerant control for spacecraft formation flying with finite-time convergence

Study results of developing control system for spacecraft formation proximity operations between a target and a chaser are presented. In particular, a coupled model using dual quaternion is employed to describe the proximity problem of spacecraft formation, and a nonlinear adaptive fault-tolerant feedback control law is developed to enable the chaser spacecraft to track the position and attitude of the target even though its actuator occurs fault. Multiple-task capability of the proposed control system is further demonstrated in the presence of disturbances and parametric uncertainties as well. In addition, the practical finite-time stability feature of the closed-loop system is guaranteed theoretically under the designed control law. Numerical simulation of the proposed method is presented to demonstrate the advantages with respect to interference suppression, fast tracking, fault tolerant and practical finite-time stability.