06.1 - Flight Dynamics and Control (Control & Modelling)
A MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL ALGORITHM FOR THE FORMATION CONTROL OF NANOSATELLITES IN LEO ORBIT
C. Santoro¹, S.R. Bassolillo, University of Naples Parthenope, Italy; A. Ferraro, University of Reggio Calabria Mediterranea, Italy; L. Blasi¹, I. Notaro¹; ¹University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Italy
This paper deals with formation control for Cubesat-type nanosatellites in LEO, employing a decentralized model predictive control algorithm. It minimizes tracking error while considering impulsive thrusters activation times. The effectiveness of the proposed technique has been proved by means of numerical simulations, using a non-linear simulator taking into account the effects of solar wind pressure, atmospheric drag, and gravitational field variations as a function of latitude and longitude.