Dynamics and control of a tethered flight vehicle

Dynamics and control of a maneuverbale flight vehicle tethered to an orbiting spacecraft are dealt with in this paper. The vehicle's altitude is assumed to be low enough that aerodynamic forces are significant. The numerically linearized equations of motion are used in a stability analysis and to design control laws which may be used in station-keeping and maneuvering of the vehicle. For motions near equilibrium states, the use of a linear quadratic regulator for the station-keeping and a linear terminal controller for the maneuver is investigated. It is shown that aerodynamic control may be used successfully for station-keeping and maneuver. Aerodynamic control yields results comparable to those obtained by using reaction thrusters and torquers.