LAUSR

Abstract This paper presents a propellantless spacecraft rendezvous method by using the optimal combination of aerodynamic force and Lorentz force. Aerodynamic force is provided by the rotations of the plates attached to the spacecraft, and Lorentz force is achieved by modulating spacecraft's electrostatic charge. Considering the limitation of the charging level of the spacecraft and physical constraints of the plates system, an optimal open-loop rendezvous trajectory is designed, which aims to minimize the energy consumed to actuate the hybrid system. The rotation rates of the plates and the electrostatic charge are constrained in the optimization problem, which is solved via the Gauss pseudospectral method. To track the open-loop trajectory in the presence of external perturbations, a novel adaptive nonsingular terminal sliding mode controller is designed. The stability of the closed-loop system is proved by the Lyapunov-based method. Several numerical examples are conducted to verify the validity of both the open-loop and closed-loop control strategy.