Fully-actuated prescribed performance control of spacecraft formation for flying cooperatively around non-cooperative target

To address the cooperative control problem of using spacecraft formation for approaching and flying around the non-cooperative target, a distributed prescribed performance control method based on the fully-actuated system theory is proposed in consideration of external interference and unexpected orbital maneuvers. First, a relative dynamic model for the service spacecraft formation and the non-cooperative target is established based on the line-of-sight coordinate system, and the fully-actuated control law is constructed to reduce the complexity of controller design. Furthermore, a distributed agreed-time prescribed performance controller is designed using the topology theory to ensure the control performance of the spacecraft formation around the target. In addition, an extended state observer is employed to observe and compensate for the uncertainties and disturbances in the system, thereby improving the control precision and robustness in spacecraft formation flying around the target. Finally, the effectiveness of the designed control method is verified by two sets of flying around simulations.