PD+ based spacecraft attitude tracking with magnetometer rate feedback

In this paper we present a solution to spacecraft attitude tracking control utilizing a passivity-based PD+ control solution with magnetometer rate feedback. This solution aims toward small spacecraft with size and weight constraints, which typically carries e.g. solar sensors and magnetometers for attitude determination, but no sensors for angular velocity feedback. The result is a control solution which uses magnetometer rate feedback to provide angular velocity information, while at the same time exploits the natural passivity in the system. The equilibrium points in the resulting closed-loop system are proved to be uniformly asymptotically stable under some mild gain conditions, and controller performance is visualized through simulations.