Synthesis method for spacecraft attitude control under constraints on angular rate and angular acceleration

Currently used for real-time transmission of Earth remote sensing data are space-based communications and data relay systems. A promising avenue for further evolution of such systems consists in the use of a laser data link, which offers high bandwidth. The need to keep the narrow beam pointed at the retransmitting spacecraft imposes constraints on the attitude maneuvering dynamics of the Earth remote sensing spacecraft. The paper proposes a method of solving the spacecraft attitude control synthesis problem under constraints on angular velocity and angular acceleration in the polynomial functions class. The obtained solution is optimized for energy consumption.