Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.18140 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866910148553867264 |
|---|---|
| author | Bocci, Alessio Corona-Sánchez, José Juan Kristiansen, Raymond |
| author_facet | Bocci, Alessio Corona-Sánchez, José Juan Kristiansen, Raymond |
| contents | The growing interest in space activities has led to the emergence of new space operators and innovative mission concepts. Small satellites such as CubeSats reduce mission costs and are typically deployed in constellations or formation flights. Since they are often propulsionless, passive orbital control strategies are the standard, primarily through differential drag achieved via attitude control maneuvers. This work develops a control system to achieve a generic relative positioning between two small satellites in a virtual leader and real follower formation flight, relying entirely on differential drag achieved through attitude maneuvers. We propose a control law based on the integrator backstepping technique, which, in a closed loop with the rotational dynamics, results in the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system equilibrium points. We demonstrate the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system equilibrium points using the Lyapunov theory, and a numerical simulation assesses the effectiveness and accuracy of the control strategy. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_18140 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Leader-Follower Formation Control Using Differential Drag and Effective Surface Regulation Bocci, Alessio Corona-Sánchez, José Juan Kristiansen, Raymond Systems and Control The growing interest in space activities has led to the emergence of new space operators and innovative mission concepts. Small satellites such as CubeSats reduce mission costs and are typically deployed in constellations or formation flights. Since they are often propulsionless, passive orbital control strategies are the standard, primarily through differential drag achieved via attitude control maneuvers. This work develops a control system to achieve a generic relative positioning between two small satellites in a virtual leader and real follower formation flight, relying entirely on differential drag achieved through attitude maneuvers. We propose a control law based on the integrator backstepping technique, which, in a closed loop with the rotational dynamics, results in the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system equilibrium points. We demonstrate the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system equilibrium points using the Lyapunov theory, and a numerical simulation assesses the effectiveness and accuracy of the control strategy. |
| title | Leader-Follower Formation Control Using Differential Drag and Effective Surface Regulation |
| topic | Systems and Control |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.18140 |