Robust Trajectory Tracking in Satellite Time-Varying Formation Flying

The robust time-varying formation control problem for a group of satellites is addressed. By the static state feedback control strategy and the disturbance estimation theory, a formation flying controller is proposed for the satellite group to form desired time-varying formation patterns and trajectories, and achieve the satellite attitude consensus. The dynamics of each satellite is subject to nonlinearities, parametric perturbations, and external disturbances. Robustness analysis shows that the trajectory and attitude tracking errors of the global closed-loop control system can converge into a given neighborhood of the origin in a finite time. The numerical simulation results validate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed formation flying controller.