Synchronized Attitude and Position Control for Spacecraft Tracking Non-Cooperative Space Object

This paper investigates the synchronized position and attitude tracking control of a spacecraft tracking a space object. The objective of the control is to make the spacecraft stay at a certain distance above a specific surface of the space object. Dual quaternion is utilized to describe the spacecraft's orbit and attitude coupled equations of motion. A generalized PD controller is developed to fulfill the control objective. Stability is proved by the Lyapunov's stability theory and the Barbarat's lemma. Numerical simulations illustrate the effectiveness of the tracking control scheme.