Large angle pitch attitude maneuver of a satellite using solar radiation pressure

The force exerted by the solar radiation, though very small in magnitude, produces significant effects, especially in the case of high altitude satellites. The solar radiation pressure represents one freely available environmental force that may be put to use for various purposes. This may lead to enhancement of the life of the satellite since it consumes a very nominal amount of on-board energy. The advantages offered by the solar radiation pressure have drawn the attention of several researchers. Various controllers were proposed for many space missions, particularly for attitude control and stabilization of satellites. A controller for achieving large angle pitch attitude maneuver is described. The proposed control law is very simple in its form and requires a minimum number of on-board computations. Varieties of cases are tried and the effect of various parameters is studied