A composite control scheme for dealing with the settling and joint tracking behavior with active vibration suppression of a relatively general model of an orbiting platform supporting a multi-link flexible manipulator system is proposed. To begin with, the dynamics of the system is derived. A non-linear control procedure for dealing with the non-linear character and mode coupling of the system, is then proposed. The main objective here is to achieve a high tracking performance at the manipulator joints, and actively suppress vibrations of the flexible arms caused by slewing and translational maneuvers. Based on a composite control scheme combining the input-output feedback linearization technique with the piezoelectric active vibration suppression, the procedure allows for a high performance of the manipulator both in joint as well as in tip trajectory tracking. Numerical simulations are then carried out for the purposes of validating the analytical dynamical model and the control synthesis thus developed, and recommendations for further analysis are proposed.