Distributed fixed-time attitude coordinated control for multiple spacecraft with actuator saturation

This paper investigates the distributed fixed-time attitude coordinated control problem for multiple spacecraft subject to actuator saturation under the directed topology. First, a distributed fixed-time observer is presented for each follower spacecraft to estimate the leader spacecraft's states. Compared with the commonly used fixed-time observer, the settling time of the proposed fixed-time observer can be easily adjusted by some free design parameters. Next, a distributed fixed-time control scheme is derived by using the estimates of the leader spacecraft's states and the adding a power integrator technique. When considering actuator saturation, an auxiliary system is utilized to compensate the saturation. Further, a rigorous theoretical proof is provided to show that the practical fixed-time stability of the closed-loop system is ensured. Finally, simulation results illustrate the benefits and effectiveness of the developed control scheme. (C) 2021 Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics.