A Note on Satellite Dynamics

It is demonstrated here that inertial differentiation of angular momentum-is independent of the choice of the moving reference coordinate system. The results agree with Greensite [1] and contradict Sen's results [2] by indicating a basic error in his derivation. However, Sen's step [2] is correct.     

Nonsaturating Satellite Open-Loop Feedback Controls

The dynamics of a zero-momentum three-axis attitude controlled satellite is used to formulate an optimal control problem, which is then solved for the special case where the flywheels operate in a nonsaturating mode. The results then serve as guidelines in the design of simple open-loop and feedback controllers.