Modeling, simulation and control of a spacecraft: Automated reorientation under directional constraints

The aim of the present research endeavor is to propose a framework to model, simulate and control the reorientation of an exploration-class spacecraft for space observation operations. Reorientation under boresight evasion requirements will be tackled by a virtual-potential theory which encodes a reorientation target as well as mandatory-direction-type and forbidden-direction-type attitudinal constraints. The mathematical model of the rotational motion of a spacecraft as well as the control fields are entirely written by coordinate-free Lie-group-type formulations. Numerical simulations complement the theoretical endeavor and illustrate the achieved progress.