Determination of acquisition time and wheel control for spacecraft using a momentum transfer technique

The momentum wheel spin-up in spacecraft with partially-filled liquid propellant tanks undergoing a reorientation maneuver results in undesired nutation around the final spin axis. In this study, we investigate the sensitivity of the spacecraft nutation to several design parameters, including momentum wheel spin-up rate, fuel viscosity, and tank location. The goal of the study is to aid in spacecraft design that presents acceptable trade-off between residual angular velocity and acceptable acquisition time. The methods employed include optimization of propellant tank placement to minimize post-maneuver spacecraft nutation while achieving fast acquisition times. The control is achieved through appropriate momentum wheel spin-up strategy that avoids excessive excitation of the system for a given spacecraft configuration. Results from numerical simulations are compared to selected results obtained with an analytical method and show excellent agreement.