The Boeing Company

H Grant Wang

Rongsheng Li

David D Needelman

Arun Prakash

A method of controlling attitude of a spacecraft during a transfer orbit operation is provided. The method includes providing a slow spin rate, determining the attitude of the spacecraft using a unified sensor set, and controlling the attitude of the spacecraft using a unified control law. The use of a unified set of sensors and a unified control law reduces spacecraft complexity, cost, and weight.

Unified attitude control for spacecraft transfer orbit operations

A system for, and method of recovering a solar-powered spacecraft from an anomaly that renders the attitude of the spacecraft unknown includes maintaining a power-safe attitude by switching between two orthogonal axes using solar panel current sensors. The system and method may also include simultaneously determining spacecraft attitude using a star sensor. The system is applicable to spacecraft operating in a solar wing-stowed configuration.

Spacecraft power acquisition method for wing-stowed configuration

A method of determining the attitude of a spinning spacecraft is provided. The method includes stabilizing the spacecraft, initializing the attitude of the spacecraft using star tracker data, and estimating the attitude of the spacecraft.

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Hacienda Heights, CA, United States of America

H Grant Wang