Control for the Space Tether System Motion

Abstract

This paper proposed a study of a spatial tether system (STS), composed by two satellite (a main satellite and a subsatellite), with the objective of developing a control system in which the motion of the subsatellite is limited in the orbital plane of the main satellite. The linear quadratic regulator (LQR) method is used to implement this control, which is an optimal control with state feedback to predict the linearization of the equations of motion to calculate the feedback gain, using the resolution of Riccati equation. The results show an effective control, with the motion of the subsatellite limited only to the stretch of the cable that links both satellites. However, it is necessary to introduce an auxiliary torque, since the linearized equation associated with the second variation of the angle out of the plan does not have a term independent of the state vector.