Abstract: For the realization of CubeSat orbit change and flying,a hybrid control method was proposed to realize the mission requirements of the continuous orbit change of CubeSat based on the modular thruster system.The multiunit CubeSat has one single main thruster,and the orbital change maneuver was based on the Gauss′ variational equations using continuous low thrust.In order to realize the pointing adjustment of CubeSat thruster,the PD controller was utilized based on the attitude dynamics model,to calculate the required torque to control the pointing angle and the angular velocity.For the discontinuous feature of the micro-pulse plasma thruster(μ-PPT),the required torque was obtained by searching for the optimal pulse sequence combination of μ-PPT allocation,which was used for continuous compensation of the external disturbances,as well as stabilizing and pointing the main thruster.In addition,the sensitivity threshold of attitude error was introduced to improve the robustness of the control system while reducing the consumption of μ-PPT.Finally,the specific mission analysis of a 3U CubeSat′s orbital flying and transferring was presented,which shows that the proposed hybrid control strategy can meet the mission requirement based on the micro propulsion system.

Key words: CubeSat, orbit change, micro-pulse plasma thruster, attitude adjustment, control design