Spacecraft Maneuvering via Atmospheric Differential Drag Using an Adaptive Lyapunov Controller

An atmospheric differential drag based adaptive Lyapunov controller, originally proposed by the authors in previous work for spacecraft rendezvous, is here generalized allowing for the tracking of reference trajectories or dynamics. Differential drag is based on the ability to vary a satellite’s cross wind surface area, and it represents a propellant-free alternative to thrusters to control relative motion of low Earth orbiting spacecraft. The interest in autonomous propellant-less maneuvering comes from the desire of reducing costs of performing formation maneuvering. Formation maneuvering opens up a wide variety of new applications for spacecraft, such as on-orbit maintenance missions and refueling. The control technique is successfully tested using Systems Tool Kit simulations for re-phase, fly-around, and rendezvous maneuvers, proving the feasibility of the proposed approach for a real flight.