Spacecraft Attitude Tracking Using Second-Order Sliding Mode Control via Backstepping

A second-order sliding mode control (2-SMC) based on backstepping is proposed to improve the performance of spacecraft control system for the chattering of traditional sliding mode control (SMC) in practical application. Original system is transformed according to 2-SMC theory Then, an appropriate Lyapunov function is select based on designed sliding manifold of the 2-SMC. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed controller improves the performance with better tracking specifications in the case of external disturbances, better behavior of the output and faster convergence of the sliding surface while maintaining the stability..