Spacecraft spin axis attitude determination via genetic algorithm

This paper investigates the problem of spacecraft spin axis attitude determination from a set of noisy measurements. A genetic algorithm (GA) approach is used in this work. The motivation behind employing the GA stems from the fact that under measurement noise, many of the existing methods may not be applicable. It is shown that the GA is effective for this type of nonlinear constrained optimization problem because of its generality and robust nature. A simulation example is presented to verify the effectiveness of this method.