Application of Robust Control to Spacecraft Attitude Stability

Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) Mathematics, 2010-11

Liaison(s): Saghir Munir, Sophia Huynh ’05, Xen Price, Gerrit van Ommering
Advisor(s): Rachel Levy
Students(s): Jake Bouricius (PM), Maxwell Lee, Andrea Levy, Margaret Rogers

Geosynchronous communications satellites must be precisely pointed to ensure proper payload delivery. The team was tasked to explore modern control theory including multiple-input/multiple-output techniques to improve the fidelity of the feedback control system for spacecraft attitude. The control system is designed to minimize the system’s response to actuator and sensor noise. The team will provide simulation data and performance indicators as experimental and theoretical justification for the improved control system.