Adaptive terminal sliding mode control of electromagnetic spacecraft formation flying in near-earth orbits

An adaptive terminal sliding mode control for six-degree-of-freedom electromagnetic spacecraft formation flying (EMFF) in near-Earth orbits is presented. By using terminal sliding mode (TSM) technique, the output tracking error can converge to zero in finite time, and strong robustness with respect to disturbance forces can be guaranteed. Based on a rotated frame F r and the adaptive TSM controller, the special magnetic moment of the steerable magnetic dipole is computed. The angular momentum management strategy (AMM) is implemented in a periodically switching fashion, by which the angular momentum buildup was limited. Illustrative simulations of EMFF are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed controller.