Robust thruster-only constrained optimal slew control strategies for nanosatellites

A common satellite attitude control task is performing large-angle slew maneuvers. When using thrusters to do this, it is necessary to minimize propellant consumption to maximize the operational lifespan, consequently. Classical methods for performing slew maneuvers generally do not optimally utilize thruster placement and do not inherently support attitude constraints, which may be necessary for proper functioning of certain sensors. Existing optimal control methods are often not sufficiently robust to model mismatch and measurement uncertainty. This work proposes a novel modification to significantly improve robustness over the underlying successive convexification-based model predictive control approach. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the efficiency, constraint handling, and robustness of the proposed method as compared to existing methods.