Reduced-attitude stabilization for spacecraft boresight pointing using magnetorquers

Abstract. This paper presents a method for achieving a desired boresight pointing of an instrument on a spacecraft using only magnetorquers as torque actuators. The desired pointing direction is inertially fixed. The proposed method is of proportional-derivate type and stabilizes the boresight pointing. Numerical simulations illustrate the effectiveness of the method and show that convergence to the desired pointing direction occurs faster than employing a three-axis stabilization approach.