Optimal distributed control of a flexible spacecraft during a large-angle maneuver

Abstract

This paper discusses the solution of the necessary conditions obtained from Pontryagin's principle, for the problem of optimal large-angle single-axis maneuvers of a flexible spacecraft possessing a distributed control system. A single-stage continuation method is presented for the solution of the resulting two-point boundaryvalue problem. Starting iteratives for the initial costate variables are obtained by neglecting the kinematic nonlinearity in the state equation which leads to a closed form solution algorithm. The continuation process then increases the participation of the kinematic nonlinearity in a sequence of neighboring optimal solutions (in essence a method of successive linearizations), converging finally to the nonlinear problem of interest.