Command Filtered Backstepping-Based Attitude Containment Control for Spacecraft Formation

In this paper, the problem of adaptive finite-time attitude containment control for multiple spacecrafts with unknown external disturbances in spacecraft formation flying is investigated. A distributed control strategy combined with finite-time command filtered backstepping (FTCFB) and an adaptive technique is proposed, which can guarantee the containment errors of attitudes between leader spacecrafts and follower spacecrafts reaching the desired neighborhood in finite time. Moreover, the applied second-order sliding mode differentiator in FTCFB can make the output of the command filter fast approximate the derivative of the virtual signal at the second step of backstepping, which can further improve the control quality. A simulation example is given to show the effectiveness of the new designed technique presented.