Spacecraft relative rotation tracking without angular velocity measurements

We present a solution to the problem of tracking relative rotation in a leader-follower spacecraft formation using feedback from relative attitude only. The controller incorporates an approximate-differentiation filter to account for the unmeasured angular velocity. We show uniform practical asymptotic stability (UPAS) of the closed-loop system. For simplicity, we assume that the leader is controlled and that we know orbital perturbations; however, this assumption can be easily relaxed to boundedness without degrading the stability property. We also assume that angular velocities of spacecraft relative to an inertial frame are bounded. Simulation results of a leader-follower spacecraft formation using the proposed controller structure are also presented. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.