Optimal and near-optimal regulation of spacecraft spin axes

As part of a continuing study of the usefulness of optimal control theory in practical control systems design, the problem of aligning the spin axis of a symmetric space body is considered. By employing the maximum principle a program is developed which is used to generate tradeoff curves between fuel consumption and control time. The availability of these typical tradeoff curves allows a designer to evaluate the performance of various feedback designs as shown by examples discussed in this paper.