Advanced Spacecraft Dynamics

This book addresses several subjects in the broad area of dynamics and control of space vehicles. A selection of topics from this volume are currently taught in the course Advanced Spacecraft Dynamics at Sapienza University, Rome, Italy. This book is tailored to advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and practicing aerospace engineers interested in spacecraft dynamics and control. This volume aims at providing the interested reader with advanced capabilities in

(i) modeling and simulating the attitude dynamics of spacecraft equipped with wheels, damping subsystems, and composed of multiple rigid bodies, through the Newton/Euler formulation and Kane’s method;

(ii) designing and simulating attitude slewing and tracking maneuvers, while including actuation modeling (through the use of momentum exchange devices);

(iii) describing and simulating finite-thrust orbit transfers and orbit maintenance maneuvers, using either feedback or optimal control;

(iv) modeling and simulating the spacecraft dynamics during atmospheric entry, while identifying and evaluating the major thermal and dynamical stresses;

(v) understanding and employing some fundamental concepts and principles useful for satellite constellation design.

All subjects are addressed with a general approach, aimed at modeling dynamics (trajectory and attitude) and formulating equations of motion without any restrictive, simplifying assumption on the spacecraft geometry and configuration. With the advent of computers and the recent advances in computational capabilities, the ability of formulating the dynamics equations even for complex spacecraft, equipped with actuation devices and composed of multiple bodies, represents a valuable skill and a prerequisite for extracting useful information from numerical integration of the equations of motion. This volume is intended to provide the reader with such ability. To this end, in each chapter the analytical developments are accompanied by numerical examples and applications of practical interest.