Gravity Gradient Torque of Spacecraft Orbiting Asteroids: Yue Wang and Shijie Xu

Gravity gradient torque of spacecraft
orbiting asteroids
Yue Wang and Shijie Xu
Department of Guidance, Navigation and Control, School of Astronautics, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
Beijing, China
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a full fourth-order model of the gravity gradient torque of spacecraft around asteroids by taking into
consideration of the inertia integrals of the spacecraft up to the fourth order, which is an improvement of the previous fourth-order model of the gravity
gradient torque.
Design/methodology/approach The fourth-order gravitational potential of the spacecraft is derived based on Taylor expansion. Then the
expression of the gravity gradient torque in terms of gravitational potential derivatives is derived. By using the formulation of the gravitational
potential, explicit formulations of the full fourth-order gravity gradient torque are obtained. Then a numerical simulation is carried out to verify the
model.
Findings It is found that the model is more sound and precise than the previous fourth-order model due to the consideration of higher-order inertia
integrals of the spacecraft. Numerical simulation results show that the motion of the previous fourth-order model is quite different from the exact
motion, while the full fourth-order model ts the exact motion very well. The full fourth-order model is precise enough for high-precision attitude
dynamics and control around asteroids.
Practical implications This high-precision model is of importance for the future asteroids missions for scientic explorations and near-Earth objects
(NEOs) mitigation.
Originality/value In comparison with previous models, a gravity gradient torque model around asteroids that is more sound and precise is
established. This model is valuable for high-precision attitude dynamics and control around asteroids.
Keywords Spacecraft, Spacecraft navigation, Modelling, Dynamics, Gravity gradient torque, Asteroids, 2nd degree and order-gravity eld,
Inertia integral
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Studies on asteroids could provide answers to fundamental
questions concerning the past of our solar system. Over the last
two decades, the interest in spacecraft missions to asteroids has
increased. The spacecraft can make near observations, bring
back samples from the asteroids and provide more detailed
information than ground-based observations. Several missions
have been developed with big successes, such as NASAs Near
Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission to the asteroid
Eros andthe JAXA(Japanese) mission Hayabusa to the asteroid
Itokawa. Several other missions are currently under
development.
One of the key elements in designing such a mission is the
analysis of the dynamical behavior of spacecraft around
asteroids. The irregular shape, non-spherical mass
distribution and rotational state of the asteroid make the
dynamics of the spacecraft quite different from that around the
Earth. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the orbital and
attitude dynamics around asteroids in details. The orbital
dynamics around asteroids has been studied in many papers
(for a recent review see Kumar (2008)), while the attitude
dynamics around asteroids has been studied by Riverin and
Misra (2002), Misra and Panchenko (2006) and Kumar
(2008). The gravity gradient torque is the main perturbation of
the attitude motion. In this paper, we focus on the gravity
gradient torque of the spacecraft in the non-central gravity eld
of asteroids.
The gravity gradient torque of spacecraft about non-spherical
bodies, suchas the Earth, has beenstudiedinseveral works, such
as Sarychev (1961), Schlegel (1966) and Hughes (1986). Their
results showed that the main term of the gravity gradient torque
was contributed by the central component of the gravity eld of
the Earth. The oblateness of the Earth makes a contribution to
the gravity gradient torque, whichis approximately ve orders of
magnitude less than the main termon the geosynchronous orbit
(Kumar, 2008). This is the reason why the oblateness of the
Earth is not taken into consideration in the attitude dynamics of
spacecraft around the Earth in theoretical studies and practical
applications. However, as shown by Riverin and Misra (2002),
Misra and Panchenko (2006) and Kumar (2008) the effects of
the non-central gravity eld of the asteroids on the attitude
motion, which can be very signicant, should be taken into
consideration.
In these previous studies on the attitude dynamics in a
non-central gravity eld (Riverin and Misra, 2002; Misra and
Panchenko, 2006; Kumar, 2008), inertia integrals of the
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1748-8842.htm
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology: An International Journal
85/1 (2013) 7281
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1748-8842]
[DOI 10.1108/00022661311294049]
This work is supported by the Innovation Foundation of BUAA for PhD
Graduates.
72
spacecraft up to the second order were considered. However,
the third- and fourth-order inertia integrals, which appear in
lower-order terms of the gravity gradient torque than the non-
central component of the gravity eld, were not considered.
As a result, only the second-order terms and parts of the
fourth-order terms were included in the gravity gradient
torque, with the third-order terms and other fourth-order
terms neglected. Thus, the previous model of the gravity
gradient torque can be improved by taking into consideration
of the higher-order inertia integrals of the spacecraft.
In this paper, by taking into consideration of the inertia
integrals of the spacecraft up to the fourth order, a full fourth-
order model of the gravity gradient torque around asteroids is
established. The gravity eld of the asteroid is considered to be a
second degree and order-gravity eld with harmonic coefcients
C
20
and C
22
. According to the conclusions by Wang and Xu
(2012), this approximation is precise enough for a fourth-order
gravity gradient torque model. The fourth-order gravitational
potential of the spacecraft is derived based on Taylor expansion.
Then the expression of the gravity gradient torque in terms of
gravitational potential derivatives is derived. By using the
formulation of the fourth-order gravitational potential, explicit
formulations of the full fourth-order gravity gradient torque are
obtained. Some useful conclusions are reached. Then a
numerical simulation, in which a special spacecraft consisted of
36 point masses is considered, is carried out to verify our model.
Statement of the problem
As shown in Figure 1, we consider a rigid spacecraft B moving
around the asteroid P. The inertial reference frame is given by
S
i
{e
1
, e
2
, e
3
} with O
i
as its origin. The body-xed reference
frames of the asteroid and the spacecraft are shown by S
P
{u,
v, w} and S
B
{i, j, k} with O and C as their origins,
respectively. The origin of the frame S
P
is at the mass center of
the asteroid, and the coordinate axes are chosen to be aligned
along the principal moments of inertia of the asteroid. The
principal moments of inertia of the asteroid are assumed to
satisfy the following in equation:
I
P;zz
. I
P;yy
. I
P;xx
: 1
Then the second degree and order-gravity eld of the asteroid
can be represented by the harmonic coefcients C
20
and C
22
with other harmonic coefcients vanished. The harmonic
coefcients C
20
and C
22
are dened by:
C
20
2
1
2Ma
2
e
2I
P;zz
2I
P;xx
2I
P;yy
, 0; 2
C
22

1
4Ma
2
e
I
P;yy
2I
P;xx
. 0; 3
where M and a
e
are the mass and the mean equatorial radius of
the asteroid, respectively. Also the frame S
B
is attached to the
mass center of the spacecraft and coincides with the principal
axes reference frame of the spacecraft.
The attitude matrices of S
P
and S
B
with respect to the
inertial frame S
i
are denoted by A
P
and A
B
, respectively:
A
P
u
i
; v
i
; w
i

u
x
i
v
x
i
w
x
i
u
y
i
v
y
i
w
y
i
u
z
i
v
z
i
w
z
i
_
_
_
_
[ SO3;
A
B
i
i
; j
i
; k
i

i
x
i
j
x
i
k
x
i
i
y
i
j
y
i
k
y
i
i
z
i
j
z
i
k
z
i
_
_
_
_
[ SO3;
4
where u
i
, v
i
, w
i
, i
i
, j
i
and k
i
are coordinates of the unit vectors
u, v, w, i, j and k in the inertial frame S
i
, respectively. SO(3)
is the three-dimensional special orthogonal group. The
matrices A
P
and A
B
are also the coordinate transformation
matrices from the corresponding body-xed frame to the
inertial frame S
i
. The relative attitude matrix of the spacecraft
with respect to the asteroid is given by:
C A
T
P
A
B
: 5
The attitude matrices A
P
, A
B
and C can also be written as
follows:
A
P
a
P
; b
P
; g
P
a
x
P
a
y
P
a
z
P
b
x
P
b
y
P
b
z
P
g
x
P
g
y
P
g
z
P
_
_
_
_
;
A
B
a
B
; b
B
; g
B
a
x
B
a
y
B
a
z
B
b
x
B
b
y
B
b
z
B
g
x
B
g
y
B
g
z
B
_
_
_
_
;
6
C a; b; g
T
a
x
a
y
a
z
b
x
b
y
b
z
g
x
g
y
g
z
_
_
_
_
; 7
where a, b and g are coordinates of the unit vectors u, v and
w in the body-xed frame of the spacecraft S
B
. The matrix C
is the coordinate transformation matrix from the frame S
B
to
the body-xed frame of the asteroid S
P
.
r
Pi
and r
Bi
are radius vectors of the mass center of the
asteroid O and the mass center of the spacecraft C with
respect to O
i
expressed in the inertial frame S
i
, respectively.
Then the radius vector of the mass center C with respect to
Figure 1 A rigid spacecraft B around the asteroid P
Gravity gradient torque of spacecraft orbiting asteroids
Volume 85 Number 1 2013 7281
73
the mass center O expressed in the body-xed frame S
P
,
denoted by r, can be calculated by:
r A
T
P
r
Bi
2r
Pi
: 8
D is the radius vector of the mass element dm(D) of the
spacecraft with respect to the mass center C expressed in the
body-xed frame S
B
. Then the radius vector of the mass
element dm(D) with respect to the mass center of the asteroid O
expressed in the body-xed frame of the asteroid S
P
, denoted by
r, is given by:
r r 1CD: 9
According to equation (5), the vectors a, band gcan be written
in terms of A
P
and A
B
as follows:
a a
x
P
a
B
b
x
P
b
B
g
x
P
g
B
; 10
b a
y
P
a
B
b
y
P
b
B
g
y
P
g
B
; 11
g a
z
P
a
B
b
z
P
b
B
g
z
P
g
B
: 12
As shown in Figure 2, the gravitational potential of a unit mass
point particle in the gravity eld of the asteroid is given by:
V
UMP
2
m
s
2
m
s
3
t
0
1 2
3
2
cos
2
d
_ _
3t
2
cos
2
d cos 2l
_ _
;
13
where m GM, G is the gravitational constant, t
0
a
2
e
C
20
,
t
2
a
2
e
C
22
, s is the distance of the particle fromthe mass center
of the asteroid, l and d are longitude and latitude of the particle,
respectively. The longitude l is measured counterclockwise
from the u-axis in the u-v plane, and the latitude d is measured
from the u-v plane towards the w-axis. Equation (13) can be
also written in terms of x, y and z, the components of the
position vector of the particle s, as follows:
V
UMP
2
m
s
1
t
0
s
2
3
2
z
2
s
2
2
1
2
_ _
3t
2
s
2
x
2
2y
2
s
2
_ _
: 14
The gravitational force of the unit mass point particle can be
calculated by rst-order partial derivatives of the gravitational
potential V
UMP
.
Mutual gravitational potential
According to equations (9) and (14), the gravitational
potential of the mass element dm(D) is given by:
dV 2
mdmD
r
1
t
0
r
2
3
2
r
z
2
r
2
2
1
2
_ _ _
3t
2
r
x
2
2r
y
2
r
4
_
:
15
Using equation (9) and the coordinate transformation matrix
C
T
, we have:
P C
T
r C
T
r D R D; 16
where P and R are components of the vectors r and r in the
body-xed frame of the spacecraft S
B
, respectively. Then r,
r
x
, r
y
and r
z
can be written in terms of R D and the matrix
C as follows:
r jRDj; r
x
a RD; r
y
b RD;
r
z
g RD:
17
Therefore, the gravitational potential of the mass element
dm(D) can be written as:
dV 2
mdmD
jRDj
1
t
0
jRDj
2
3g RD
2
2jRDj
2
2
1
2
_ _ _
3t
2
a RD
2
2b RD
2
jRDj
4
_
:
18
The gravitational potential of the spacecraft is formulated by
the integration over B:
VR; a; b; g
_
B
dVR; a; b; g; D: 19
According to jR Dj
2
R
2
D
2
2R D, jR Dj can be
written as:
jR Dj R 1
2R D
R

D
2
R
2
_ _
1=2
; 20
where R is the unit vector along the vector R. By using
equation (20), the expressions about jR Dj in equation (18)
can be written in the form of series through Taylor expansion
and truncation on the appropriate order:
1
jRDj

1
R
2
R D
R
2

3
2
R D
2
R
3
2
1
2
D
2
R
3
_ _
3
2
D
2
R D
R
4
_
2
5
2
R D
3
R
4
_
3
8
D
4
R
5
2
15
4
D
2
R D
2
R
5

35
8
R D
4
R
5
_ _
OR
26
;
21
1
jR Dj
3

1
R
3
23
R D
R
4

15
2
R D
2
R
5
2
3
2
D
2
R
5
_ _
OR
26
;
22
Figure 2 A unit mass point particle in the gravity eld of the asteroid
74
a RD
2
jRDj
5

a R
2
R
3

2a Ra D
R
4
25
a R
2
R D
R
4
_ _
a D
2
R
5
2
5
2
a R
2
D
2
R
5

35
2
a R
2
R D
2
R
5
_
2
10a Ra DR D
R
5
_
OR
26
;
23
b RD
2
jRDj
5

b R
2
R
3

2b Rb D
R
4
25
b R
2
R D
R
4
_ _
b D
2
R
5
2
5
2
b R
2
D
2
R
5

35
2
b R
2
R D
2
R
5
_
2
10b Rb DR D
R
5
_
OR
26
;
24
g RD
2
jRDj
5

g R
2
R
3

2g Rg D
R
4
25
g R
2
R D
R
4
_ _
g D
2
R
5
2
5
2
g R
2
D
2
R
5

35
2
g R
2
R D
2
R
5
_
2
10g Rg DR D
R
5
_
OR
26
:
25
By using equations (21)-(25), the leading terms of dV up to
the fourth order can be written as:
dV
0
2
mdmD
R
; 26
dV
1
m
R D
R
2
dmD; 27
dV
2
2
mdmD
2R
3
3R D
2
2D
2
2t
0
3t
0
g R
2
_
6t
2
a R
2
26t
2
b R
2
_
;
28
dV
3
2
mdmD
2R
4
R D3D
2
3t
0
25R D
2
_
6t
0
g Rg D 215t
0
g R
2
R D
12t
2
a Ra D 230t
2
a R
2
R D
212t
2
b Rb D 30t
2
b R
2
R D
_
;
29
dV
4
2
mdmD
8R
5
3D
4
230D
2
RD
2
35RD
4
_
2t
0
3D
2
215RD
2
12t
0
gD
2
230t
0
gR
2
D
2
210t
0
gR
2
RD
2
2120t
0
gR gDRD
24t
2
aD
2
260t
2
aR
2
D
2
420t
2
aR
2
RD
2
2240t
2
aRaDRD
224t
2
bD
2
60t
2
bR
2
D
2
2420t
2
bR
2
RD
2
240t
2
bRbDRD
_
:
30
Substitution of equations (26)-(30) into equation (19) gives
the leading terms of the gravitational potential V, namely V
(0)
to V
(4)
. The zeroth-order gravitational potential V
(0)
is
given by:
V
0

_
B
2
mdmD
R
2
mm
R
; 31
where m is the mass of the spacecraft. Since the origin of the
frame S
B
coincides with the mass center of the spacecraft, the
rst-order gravitational potential V
(1)
is vanished:
V
1
m
R
R
2

_
B
DdmD 0: 32
The inertia integrals of the spacecraft are dened by:
J
p2times
x. . .x
..
q2times
y. . .y
..
r2times
z. . .z
..

_
B
D
x
p
D
y
q
D
z
r
dmD: 33
The moments of inertia are dened by I
xx
J
yy
J
zz
,
I
yy
J
xx
J
zz
and I
zz
J
xx
J
yy
. The frame S
B
is the
principal axes reference frame of the spacecraft, thus the
product moments of inertia are all eliminated. We express R D,
D
2
, a D, b D and g D in terms of the components in the
body-xed frame S
B
as follows:
R D R
x
D
x
R
y
D
y
R
z
D
z
;
D
2
D
x
2
D
y
2
D
z
2
;
34
a D a
x
D
x
a
y
D
y
a
z
D
z
;
b D b
x
D
x
b
y
D
y
b
z
D
z
;
35
g D g
x
D
x
g
y
D
y
g
z
D
z
: 36
Using inertia integrals dened above, we can get the second-
order gravitational potential V
(2)
and the third-order
gravitational potential V
(3)
as follows:
V
2
R; a; b; g 2
m
2R
3
trI 23R
T
IR2mt
0
3mt
0
g R
2
_
6mt
2
a R
2
2b R
2
_
;
37
V
3
R; a; b; g
m
2R
4
R
x
5R
x
2
23J
xxx
R
y
5R
y
2
23J
yyy
_
R
z
5R
z
2
23J
zzz
3R
y
5R
x
2
21J
xxy
3R
x
5R
y
2
21J
xyy
3R
z
5R
x
2
21J
xxz
3R
x
5R
z
2
21J
xzz
3R
z
5R
y
2
21J
yyz
3R
y
5R
z
2
21J
yzz
30R
x
R
y
R
z
J
xyz
_
:
38
The fourth-order gravitational potential V
(4)
canbe writteninto
three parts:
75
V
4;C
R;a;b;g 2
m
8R
5
35R
x
4
230R
x
2
3J
xxxx
_
35R
y
4
230R
y
2
3J
yyyy
20R
x
R
z
7R
z
2
23J
xzzz
20R
y
R
z
7R
y
2
23J
yyyz
20R
y
R
z
7R
z
2
23J
yzzz
35R
z
4
230R
z
2
3J
zzzz
20R
x
R
y
7R
y
2
23J
xyyy
20R
x
R
z
7R
x
2
23J
xxxz
635R
x
2
R
y
2
25R
x
2
25R
y
2
1J
xxyy
20R
x
R
y
7R
x
2
23J
xxxy
635R
x
2
R
z
2
25R
x
2
25R
z
2
1J
xxzz
635R
y
2
R
z
2
25R
y
2
25R
z
2
1J
yyzz
60R
y
R
z
7R
x
2
21J
xxyz
60R
x
R
z
7R
y
2
21J
xyyz
60R
x
R
y
7R
z
2
21J
xyzz
_
;
39
V
4;C20
R; a; b; g 2
3mt
0
4R
5
5g R
2
21trI
_
51 27g R
2
R
T
IR
22g
T
Ig 210g Rg
T
IR
_
;
40
V
4;C22
R; a; b; g 2
3mt
2
2R
5
5a R
2
_
2b R
2
trI 27R
T
IR
22a
T
Ia 2b
T
Ib 210a Ra
T
IR
10b Rb
T
IR
_
;
41
V
(4),C
is the gravitational potential due to the interaction
between the central component of the gravity eld of the
asteroid and the fourth-order inertia integrals of the spacecraft;
V
(4),C20
is the gravitational potential of the interaction between
the second degree and zeroth order component of the gravity
eld and the second-order inertia integrals; V
(4),C22
is due to the
interaction between the second degree and second order
component of the gravity eld and the second-order inertia
integrals.
The fourth-order approximate gravitational potential
~
V is
the sum of V
(0)
, V
(2)
, V
(3)
, V
(4),C
, V
4;C20
and V
4;C22
:
~
VR; a; b; g V
0
V
2
V
3
V
4;C
V
4;C20
V
4;C22
:
42
Gravity gradient torque
After the formulation of the mutual gravitational potential
between the asteroid and the spacecraft obtained, the explicit
formulations of the gravity gradient torque acting on the
spacecraft can be derived through the gravitational potential
derivatives. The gravitational potential
~
V is a function of
the inertial positions and attitudes of the asteroid and the
spacecraft r
Pi
, r
Bi
, A
P
and A
B
. However, according to
equations (31) and (37)-(42), the gravitational potential
~
V can be determined by the relative position and attitude of
the spacecraft with respect to the asteroid:
~
V
~
Vr
Pi
; r
Bi
; A
P
; A
B

~
VR; C: 43
We have several relations between these two sets of variables
of position and attitude, as shown by equations (10)-(12) and
the following equation:
R A
T
B
r
Bi
2r
Pi
: 44
According to Maciejewski (1995), if the mutual gravitational
potential
~
V is considered as a function of r
Pi
, r
Bi
, A
P
and A
B
,
the gravity gradient torque acting on the spacecraft B
expressed in the body-xed frame S
B
, denoted by
~
T
B
, can
be calculated by:
~
T
B
a
B

~
Vr
Pi
; r
Bi
; A
P
; A
B
a
B
b
B
~
Vr
Pi
; r
Bi
; A
P
; A
B
b
B
g
B
~
Vr
Pi
; r
Bi
; A
P
; A
B
g
B
:
45
Using equations (10)-(12) and (44), we obtain following
equations through the chain rule:
~
Vr
Pi
; r
Bi
; A
P
; A
B
a
B
R
a
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
R
a
a
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
a
b
a
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
b
g
a
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
g
r
Bi
2r
Pi
~
VR; C
R
a
x
P
~
VR; C
a
a
y
P
~
VR; C
b
a
z
P
~
VR; C
g
;
46
76
~
Vr
Pi
; r
Bi
; A
P
; A
B
b
B
R
b
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
R
a
b
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
a
b
b
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
b
g
b
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
g
r
Bi
2r
Pi
~
VR; C
R
b
x
P
~
VR; C
a
b
y
P
~
VR; C
b
b
z
P
~
VR; C
g
;
47
~
Vr
Pi
; r
Bi
; A
P
; A
B
g
B
R
g
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
R
a
g
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
a
b
g
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
b
g
g
B
_ _
T
~
VR; C
g
r
Bi
2r
Pi
~
VR; C
R
g
x
P
~
VR; C
a
g
y
P
~
VR; C
b
g
z
P
~
VR; C
g
;
48
where a=b
a
x
=b a
y
=b a
z
=b
_ _
T
is the Jacobi
matrix. Substitution of equations (46)-(48) into equation (45)
gives:
~
T
B
R
~
VR; C
R
a
~
VR; C
a
b
~
VR; C
b
g
~
VR; C
g
:
49
The explicit formulations of
~
T
B
are obtained by using
equation (49) with the help of Maple, which are given in the
Appendix. We nd that every term in the gravitational
potential and torque contains a product of two mass
distribution parameters, among which one is of the asteroid
and the other is of the spacecraft. The order of the term is
sum of orders of the two parameters. For the asteroid, the
zeroth-order mass distribution parameter is the mass M; the
second-order parameters are C
20
and C
22
. For the spacecraft,
the mass distribution parameters are inertia integrals.
The zeroth-order inertia integral of the spacecraft, i.e. the
mass, has nocontributionto the gravity gradient torque, andthe
rst-order inertia integrals of the spacecraft are vanished.
Then we can conclude that the harmonic coefcients of the
asteroid higher than second degree have no contribution to
the fourth-order gravity gradient torque model. Therefore, the
assumption of a second degree and order-gravity eld is precise
enough for a fourth-order gravity gradient torque model.
The coefcients C
20
andC
22
appear inthe fourth-order terms of
the gravity gradient torque along with the second-order inertia
integrals of the spacecraft. These conclusions are veried by
equations (A1)-(A3) in the Appendix.
The third- and fourth-order inertia integrals of the spacecraft
appear in the third- and fourth-order terms of the gravity
gradient torque along withthe mass of the asteroid, respectively.
In previous results (Riverin and Misra, 2002; Misra and
Panchenko, 2006; Kumar, 2008), the third- and fourth-order
inertia integrals were not considered, thus only the second-
order and some fourth-order terms of the gravity gradient
torque were included, with the third-order terms and parts of
fourth-order terms neglected. Therefore, our full fourth-order
gravity gradient torque model is more sound and precise than
previous fourth-order model. This conclusion is conrmed by
our numerical simulation in the next section.
Simulation example
A numerical simulation is carried out to verify our gravity
gradient torque model. We assume that the mass center of the
asteroid is stationary in the inertial space, and the asteroid is
in a uniform rotation around its maximum-moment principal
axis, i.e. the w-axis. The spacecraft is assumed to be on a
stationary orbit and the orbital motion is negligibly affected by
the attitude motion, as shown by Figure 3.
According to the orbital theory, a stationary orbit in inertial
space corresponds to an equilibrium in the body-xed frame
of the asteroid. There are two kinds of stationary orbits: those
that lie on the u-axis, and those that lie on the v-axis. In the
numerical simulation, we consider a spacecraft located on
the v-axis. The radius of the stationary orbit R
S
satises:
R
5
S
2
m
v
2
T
R
2
S
2
3
2
t
0
29t
2
_ _
0; 50
where v
T
is the angular velocity of the uniform rotation of the
asteroid.
As shown by Figure 3, the orbital reference frame is dened
by S
o
{i
o
, j
o
, k
o
} with its origin coinciding with C, the mass
center of the spacecraft. k
o
points towards the mass center of
the asteroid, j
o
is in the opposite direction of the orbital
angular momentum, and i
o
completes the orthogonal triad.
The attitude of the spacecraft with respect to the orbital frame
is dened in terms of roll, pitch and yaw angles. The sequence
Figure 3 The spacecraft on a stationary orbit around the asteroid
77
of rotation is: the yaw c around the k-axis, followed by
the pitch u around the j-axis, and then the roll f around the
i-axis. The sequence of rotation from the frame S
P
to the
frame S
o
, then to the frame S
B
can be described as follows:
S
P
R
x
p=2 !+R
z
p !S
o
R
z
c !+R
y
u !+R
x
f !S
B
:
The coordinate transformation matrix L
OP
from the body-
xed frame of the asteroid S
P
to the orbital frame S
o
and
the coordinate transformation matrix L
BO
from the orbital
frame S
o
to the body-xed frame of the spacecraft S
B
can be
calculated according to the sequence of rotation given above
and Hughes (1986).
We assume further that the gravity gradient torque is
the only external torque acting on the spacecraft. For the
equations of the attitude motion see Hughes (1986). Notice
that the relative angular velocity of the spacecraft with respect
to the orbital frame S
o
expressed in the body-xed frame
S
B
, V
r

V
x
r
V
y
r
V
z
r
_ _
T
can be calculated by:
V
r
V2L
BO
V
Orbit
V2L
BO
0 2v
T
0
_ _
T
; 51
where V
V
x
V
y
V
z
_
T
is the angular velocity of the
spacecraft expressed in the body-xed frame S
B
, and V
Orbit
is
the angular velocity of the orbital frame S
o
expressed in itself.
With the explicit formulations of the gravity gradient torque
given in the Appendix, the system of differential equations
governing the attitude motion is autonomous. Numerical
simulations can be performed.
The parameters of the asteroid and its gravity eld
are assumed to be as follows: M 1.4091 10
12
kg,
t
0
27.275 10
4
m
2
, t
2
1.263 10
4
m
2
, and
v
T
1.7453 10
24
s
21
. The radius of the stationary orbit R
S
is equal to 1,454.952m by equation (50).
Here we consider a special spacecraft that is consisted of
36 point masses connected by rigid massless rods, as shown by
Figure 4. The mass of each point mass is assumed to be 100kg,
and the unit of length in Figure 4 is meter. With the position of
every point mass in the body-xed frame S
B
already known, the
inertia integrals of the spacecraft can be calculated easily
through equation (33). The gravitational force of each point
mass can be calculated by the rst-order partial derivatives of
the gravitational potential V
UMP
, and then the exact gravity
gradient torque can be obtained by adding the gravitational
torque of each point mass with respect to the mass center C.
Thus, we can make comparisons between the motions of the
previous fourth-order model, our full fourth-order model and
the exact model. Through these comparisons, different
approximate models can be evaluated.
The initial conditions of the numerical simulation are set as
that the Euler angles c, u and f are all zero, and the spacecraft
has the same angular velocity as the orbital frame, i.e. V
r
0.
The time histories of the yaw, pitch and roll motions of the
spacecraft are given in Figures 5-7, respectively. Our full
fourth-order gravity gradient torque model is denoted by
FourthOrder in these gures, and the previous fourth-order
model in Riverin and Misra (2002), Misra and Panchenko
(2006) and Kumar (2008), is denoted by PreFourthOrder.
SecondOrder is the second-order part of the fourth-order
model, i.e. the usual gravity gradient torque model in the
traditional spacecraft attitude dynamics in a central gravity
eld, and Precise is the exact model.
In the case of the previous fourth-order model
PreFourthOrder, the Euler angles c, u and f are staying at
zero, i.e. the spacecraft is at an equilibrium attitude, just as
the second-order model SecondOrder. Namely, the previous
fourth-order model has the same equilibria as the second-
order model, and the non-central component of the gravity
eld of the asteroid has no effect on the location of the
equilibrium in the previous fourth-order model.
However, the exact motion, as shown by Precise in
Figures 5-7, is small amplitude oscillation in all three axes,
which is quite different from the previous fourth-order model
PreFourthOrder. The amplitudes of the yaw and roll motions
are the order of 10
22
degree, while the amplitude of the pitch
motion is the order of 10
21
degree that would be a matter in
the high-precision attitude dynamics. Therefore, the previous
fourth-order model cannot model the attitude motion very
well.
From Figures 5-7, we can see that our full fourth-order
model FourthOrder ts the exact motion very well with the
maximum error order of 10
23
degree in yaw and roll motions,
and 10
22
degree in the pitch motion. Moreover, our full
fourth-order model has the similar equilibria to the exact
motion. Therefore, our full fourth-order model is more
precise than the previous fourth-order model, and our model
is precise enough for high-precision applications in attitude
dynamics and control.
Figure 4 A special spacecraft consisted of 36 point masses connected by rigid massless rods
78
Conclusion
In this paper, a full fourth-order gravity gradient torque
model of spacecraft around a non-spherical asteroid is
established. In this model, the gravity eld of the asteroid is
assumed to be second degree and order with harmonic
coefcients C
20
and C
22
. The inertia integrals of the
spacecraft up to the fourth order are considered, that is an
improvement with respect to previous fourth-order model. In
previous fourth-order model, inertia integrals only up to the
second order were considered.
Through Taylor expansion, the mutual gravitational
potential up to the fourth order is derived. Then the explicit
formulations of the gravity gradient torque are obtained
through the gravitational potential derivatives. We nd that
the third- and fourth-order inertia integrals of the spacecraft
appear in the third- and fourth-order terms of the gravity
gradient torque, respectively, along with the mass of the
asteroid. In the previous fourth-order model, the third- and
fourth-order inertia integrals were not considered, thus the
third-order terms and parts of fourth-order terms of the
gravity gradient torque were neglected.
A numerical simulation is carried out to verify our full
fourth-order model. In the numerical simulation, a special
spacecraft consisted of 36 point masses, whose exact motion
can be calculated, is considered. Simulation results show that
the motion of the previous fourth-order model is quite
different from the exact motion, while our full fourth-order
model ts the exact motion very well. Our full fourth-order
model has similar equilibria to the exact motion.
Figure 6 Pitch motion with three gravity gradient torque models and exact gravity gradient torque
Figure 5 Yaw motion with three gravity gradient torque models and exact gravity gradient torque
79
We can conclude that our full fourth-order gravity gradient
torque model is more sound and precise than the previous
fourth-order model, and our model is precise enough for
high-precision attitude dynamics and control around
asteroids.
References
Hughes, P.C. (1986), Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics, Wiley,
New York, NY.
Kumar, K.D. (2008), Attitude dynamics and control of
satellites orbiting rotating asteroids, Acta Mechanica,
Vol. 198, pp. 99-118.
Maciejewski, A.J. (1995), Reduction, relative equilibria and
potential in the two rigid bodies problem, Celestial
Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, Vol. 63, pp. 1-28.
Misra, A.K. and Panchenko, Y. (2006), Attitude dynamics of
satellites orbiting an asteroid, The Journal of the
Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 54 Nos 3/4, pp. 369-81.
Riverin, J.L. and Misra, A.K. (2002), Attitude dynamics
of satellites orbiting small bodies, paper presented
at the AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist
Conference and Exhibit, AIAA 2002-4520, Monterey,
CA, 5-8 August.
Sarychev, V.A. (1961), Inuence of the earths oblateness on
the rotational motion of an articial satellite, Planetary and
Space Science, Vol. 8 Nos 3/4, pp. 173-8.
Schlegel, L.B. (1966), Contribution of earth oblateness to
gravity torque on a satellite, AIAA Journal, Vol. 4,
pp. 2075-7.
Wang, Y. and Xu, S. (2012), Gravitational orbit-rotation
coupling of a rigid satellite around a spheroid planet,
Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 8 March.
Appendix
The explicit formulations of the full fourth-order gravity
gradient torque of the spacecraft
~
T
B
are given as follows:
~
T
x
B

3m
R
3
R
y
R
z
I
zz
2I
yy
3m
2R
4
R
z
125R
y
2
J
yyy
_
210R
x
R
y
R
z
J
xyy
10R
x
R
y
R
z
J
xzz
R
y
5R
x
2
21J
xxz
R
z
125R
z
2
10R
y
2
J
yzz
R
y
5R
z
2
21J
zzz
2R
y
125R
y
2
10R
z
2
J
yyz
10R
x
R
y
2
2R
z
2
J
xyz
R
z
1 25R
x
2
J
xxy

5m
2R
5
3R
x
R
y
1 27R
z
2
J
xzzz
_
R
y
R
z
3 27R
z
2
J
zzzz
3R
y
R
z
1 27R
x
2
J
xxzz
21R
y
R
z
R
z
2
2R
y
2
J
yyzz
3R
y
R
z
7R
x
2
21J
xxyy
R
x
R
y
3 27R
x
2
J
xxxz
R
y
R
z
7R
y
2
23J
yyyy
3R
y
2
23R
z
2
27R
y
4
21R
y
2
R
z
2
J
yyyz
3R
y
2
23R
z
2
7R
z
4
221R
y
2
R
z
2
J
yzzz
R
x
R
z
7R
x
2
23J
xxxy
3R
y
2
2R
z
2
7R
x
2
R
z
2
27R
x
2
R
y
2
J
xxyz
3R
x
R
z
7R
y
2
21
_ _
J
xyyy
23R
x
R
z
1 27R
z
2
14R
y
2
J
xyzz
3R
x
R
y
1 27R
y
2
14R
z
2
J
xyyz
_
5m
2R
5
I
zz
2I
yy
3t
0
7R
y
R
z
g R
2
_ _
22R
y
g
z
g R
_ _
22R
z
g
y
g R
2
5
g
y
g
z
2R
y
R
z
_
6t
2
7R
y
R
z
aR
2
22R
y
a
z
aR22R
z
a
y
aR
2
5
a
y
a
z
_ _
26t
2
7R
y
R
z
bR
2
22R
y
b
z
bR22R
z
b
y
bR
2
5
b
y
b
z
_ __
;
A1
Figure 7 Roll motion with three gravity gradient torque models and exact gravity gradient torque
80
~
T
y
B

3m
R
3
R
x
R
z
I
xx
2I
zz
3m
2R
4
R
z
5R
x
2
21J
xxx
_
10R
x
R
y
R
z
J
xxy
210R
x
R
y
R
z
J
yzz
R
z
5R
y
2
21J
xyy
R
x
125R
x
2
10R
z
2
J
xxz
R
x
125R
z
2
J
zzz
2R
z
125R
z
2
10R
x
2
J
xzz
10R
y
R
z
2
2R
x
2
J
xyz
R
x
1 25R
y
2
J
yyz
_
5m
2R
5
3R
y
R
z
1 27R
x
2
J
xxxy
_
R
x
R
z
3 27R
x
2
J
xxxx
3R
x
R
z
1 27R
y
2
J
xxyy
21R
x
R
z
R
x
2
2R
z
2
J
xxzz
3R
x
R
z
7R
y
2
21J
yyzz
R
y
R
z
3 27R
y
2
J
xyyy
R
x
R
y
7R
y
2
23J
yyyz
3R
z
2
23R
x
2
27R
z
4
21R
x
2
R
z
2
J
xzzz
3R
z
2
23R
x
2
7R
x
4
221R
x
2
R
z
2
J
xxxz
R
x
R
z
7R
z
2
23J
zzzz
3 R
z
2
2R
x
2
7R
x
2
R
y
2
_
27R
y
2
R
z
2
_
J
xyyz
3R
x
R
y
7R
z
2
21J
yzzz
23R
x
R
y
1 27R
x
2
14R
z
2
J
xxyz
3R
y
R
z
1 27R
z
2
14R
x
2
J
xyzz
_

5m
2R
5
I
xx
2I
zz
3t
0
7R
x
R
z
g R
2
_ _
22R
x
g
z
g R 22R
z
g
x
g R
2
5
g
x
g
z
2R
x
R
z
_
6t
2
7R
x
R
z
aR
2
22R
x
a
z
aR22R
z
a
x
aR
2
5
a
x
a
z
_ _
26t
2
7R
x
R
z
bR
2
22R
x
b
z
bR22R
z
b
x
bR
2
5
b
x
b
z
_ __
;
A2
~
T
z
B
3m
R
3
R
x
R
y
I
yy
2I
xx
3m
2R
4
R
y
125R
x
2
J
xxx
_
10R
x
R
y
R
z
J
yyz
210R
x
R
y
R
z
J
xxz
R
x
5R
z
2
21J
yzz
R
y
125R
y
2
10R
x
2
J
xyy
R
x
5R
y
2
21J
yyy
2R
x
125R
x
2
10R
y
2
J
xxy
10R
z
R
x
2
2R
y
2
J
xyz
R
y
1 25R
z
2
J
xzz
_
5m
2R
5
3R
x
R
z
1 27R
y
2
J
yyyz
_
R
x
R
y
3 27R
y
2
J
yyyy
3R
x
R
y
1 27R
z
2
J
yyzz
21R
x
R
y
R
y
2
2R
x
2
J
xxyy
3R
x
R
y
7R
z
2
21J
xxzz
R
y
R
z
7R
z
2
23J
xzzz
3R
y
R
z
7R
x
2
21J
xxxz
3R
x
2
23R
y
2
27R
x
4
21R
x
2
R
y
2
J
xxxy
3R
x
2
23R
y
2
7R
y
4
221R
x
2
R
y
2
J
xyyy
R
x
R
y
7R
x
2
23J
xxxx
3R
x
2
2R
y
2
7R
y
2
R
z
2
27R
x
2
R
z
2
J
xyzz
R
x
R
z
327R
z
2
J
yzzz
23R
y
R
z
1 27R
y
2
14R
x
2
J
xyyz
3R
x
R
z
1 27R
x
2
14R
y
2
J
xxyz

5m
2R
5
I
yy
2I
xx
3t
0
7R
x
R
y
g R
2
_ _
22R
y
g
x
g R 22R
x
g
y
g R
2
5
g
x
g
y
2R
x
R
y
_
6t
2
7R
x
R
y
aR
2
22R
y
a
x
aR22R
x
a
y
aR
2
5
a
x
a
y
_ _
26t
2
7R
x
R
y
bR
2
22R
y
b
x
bR22R
x
b
y
bR
2
5
b
x
b
y
_ __
;
A3
Corresponding author
Yue Wang can be contacted at: ywang@sa.buaa.edu.cn
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Gravity Gradient Torque of Spacecraft Orbiting Asteroids: Yue Wang and Shijie Xu

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Gravity Gradient Torque of Spacecraft Orbiting Asteroids: Yue Wang and Shijie Xu

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Gravity gradient torque of spacecraft

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