Appendix A

Gravity Gradient Torque

We will now consider the gravity gradient torque on an earth satellite in a circular
orbit. We assume that the earth is a perfect rigid sphere with a radially symmetric
mass distribution and denote
 = vector from Earth center to the center of mass of the satellite.
R
r = vector from Earth center to the mass element dm of the satellite.
 = position vector of mass element dm with respect to the satellite center of mass.
Then, if i, j, k are the unit vectors along the body axes X, Y, Z respectively,
we have
 = xi + yj + zk
 + 
r = R

(A.1)
(A.2)

The attractive force on the mass element dm is

d F =

dm
r
r3

(A.3)

where: = GM = Earths gravitational parameter, with G = universal gravitational

constant, and M = total mass of the earth. The torque about the center of mass of the
satellite caused by the force on dm is
d L g = 

dm
r
r3

dm
 + )
 (R

r3
dm

= 3  R
r

Since


 + )
 + )
r = (R
 (R
 =R
2

(A.4)

 
2R
1 + (/R) + 2 2
R
2


(A.5)

R. V. Ramnath, Computation and Asymptotics, SpringerBriefs in Computational Mechanics, 113

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-25749-0, The Author(s) 2012

114

Appendix A: Gravity Gradient Torque

r 3 can be written as
r


3/2
 
1
R
2
= 3 1+
+2 2
R
R
R


 
1
R
3 13 2
R
R

(A.6)

Note that in the above expression  R and neglecting second and higher order
terms in the binomial expansion. The total torque exerted on the satellite becomes

 
 cot 

R

13
( R)dm
L g = 3
R m
R2


1 
3



dm
 R+ 3
(R )(
  R)dm
(A.7)
= 3
R m
R m R2
Since the origin of the body axes coincides with the center of mass of the satellite,

dm = 0
(A.8)
m

so that
3
L g = 3
R


m

1 

(R )(
  R)dm
R2

(A.9)

Now, choose the orbit reference axes with the origin at the center of mass of the
satellite. Note that Z0 is directed from the center of mass of the satellite to the center
of the Earth, and X0 is in the orbit plane along the forward direction normal to Z0 ,
and Y0 is normal to the orbit plane.
The attitude of the satellite can be identified by three successive rotations from
the orbit reference axes in the following sequence: about Z0 , about the newly
 can be
displaced Y0 axis and about the final position of axis X0 X. Therefore, R
expressed as

 = R(c1i + c2j + c3 k)
R

(A.10)

where c1 , c2 c3 denote:
c1 sin
c2 cos sin
c3 cos cos
Substituting into the torque equation and integrating, the
 components of the
 gravity
gradient torque along the body axes can be written as Note: 2 = /R3

Appendix A: Gravity Gradient Torque

Lg x =

3
R3

3
R3

115


(c1 x + c2 y + c3 z)c3 y c2 z)dm



(x 2 + y2 )dm


(x 2 + z2 )dm c2 c3

3 2
 (Iz Iy )sin2cos2
2

3
= 3 (c1 x + c2 y + c3 z)c1 z c3 x)dm
R



3
= 3
(y2 + z2 )dm (x 2 + y2 )dm c1 c3
R
=

Lg y

3 2
 (Iz Ix )cossin2
2

3
= 3 (c1 x + c2 y + c3 z)c3 x c1 y)dm
R



3
= 3
(x 2 + z2 )dm (y2 + z2 )dm c2 c3
R
=

Lg z

3 2
 (Ix Iy )sinsin2
2

(A.11)

(A.12)

(A.13)

(A.14)

(A.15)

(A.16)

(A.17)

(A.18)

(A.19)

In summary, we can write

(a) Gravity Gradient Torque (GGT)
From orbital dynamics [1], the magnitude of the position vector R can be expressed
in terms of the eccentricity e, w3mi-major axis a and true anomaly f as
R=

a(1 e2 )
(1 + ecosf )

(A.20)

The orbital period is

p = 2/orbit = 2 a3 /

(A.21)

It can be shown that the GGT can be written as [2],



 R
b
b

R
b
2
L G
= 3orbit
(1 + ecosf )3 /(1 e2 )3
I
R
R

(A.22)

116

Appendix A: Gravity Gradient Torque

2
= O(orbit
)

(A.23)

if e  1 and the inertia matrix I is not approximately an identity matrix.

It can be shown that the GGT can be expressed as a product of attitude-dependent
terms with a higher frequency and the orbit-dependent terms with the relatively lower
frequency [2]. This is useful later in the development of the solution.

Appendix B

Geomagnetic Torque (GMT) Torque

Similarly, the Geomagnetic Torque Torque (GMT) can be written as follows: An

earth satellite interacts with the geomagnetic field resulting in a torque

L M = VM B

(B.1)

 = geomagnetic field and VM = magnetic moment of the spacecraft. The

where B
latter could arise from any current-carrying devices in the satellite payload or by
eddy currents in the metal structure, which cause undesirable torques. On the other
hand, the vehicle magnetic moment could also be purposely generated by passing an
electric current through an onboard coil to create a torque for attitude control. This
has been discussed in Chap. 8.
The geomagnetic field modeled as a dipole has the form


 R

 = (B /R5 ) R2 eB 3(eB R)
(B.2)
B
where eB is a unit vector in the direction of the geomagnetic dipole axis, which is
 is the satellite position
inclined about 11.5 degrees from the geophysical polar axis. R
25
3
vector and B = 8.1 10 gauss cm . The GMT can be written in the form [2]


b
b
 i )R
i
(B.3)
L M
= VM
Cib (B /R5 ) R2 eiB 3(eiB R
Although neither the geomagnetic field nor the body magnetic moment can be precisely determined in general, modeling them as dipoles is sufficiently accurate for
our purpose.
2
,
Two points are worthy of note. First, both GGT and GMT are of order of orbit
provided that the eccentricity is not too high and if the satellite mass distribution is
not too nearly spherical. Second, both GGT and GMT can be expressed in a form
separating the attitude and orbital frequencies.

R. V. Ramnath, Computation and Asymptotics, SpringerBriefs in Computational Mechanics, 117

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-25749-0, The Author(s) 2012

Appendix C

Floquets Theory

Floquets theory [3] establishes the form and nature of the solutions of a linear
differential equation of any order, with coefficients which are periodic functions of
a fixed period T. The theory is sufficiently explained if we limit its application to a
differential equation of second order.
Let u1 (t) and u2 (t) be any linearly independent solutions of the differential equation We can write the general solution as
U(t) = Au1 (t) + Bu2 (t)

(C.1)

where A and B are arbitrary constants. Note that the coefficients of the equation are
periodic functions with period T. Therefore, both u1 (t + T ) and u2 (t + T ) are also
solutions of the equation. Hence these functions can be expressed linearly in terms
of the fundamental set as follows.
u1 (t + T ) = a1 u1 (t) + a2 u2 (t); u2 (t + T ) = b1 u1 (t) + b2 u2 (t)

(C.2)

The general solution can be written as

U(t + T ) = (Aa1 + Bb1 )u1 (t) + (Aa2 + Bb2 )u2 (t)

(C.3)

U(t + T ) = kU(t)

(C.4)

A and B must satisfy the equations

Ak = Aa1 + Bb1

(C.5)

Bk = Aa2 + Bb2

(C.6)

These are homogenous equations in A and B. The necessary and sufficient conditions
for the existence of nontrivial solutions is given by


b1
a1 k
det
=0
(C.7)
a2
b2 k
R. V. Ramnath, Computation and Asymptotics, SpringerBriefs in Computational Mechanics, 119
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-25749-0, The Author(s) 2012

120

Appendix C: Floquets Theory

If k is one of the roots of this equation, then the general solution of the differential
equation will satisfy Eq. C.4. Let us now write k = eT and define the function
W (t) = et U(t)

(C.8)

W (t + T ) = e(t+T ) U(t + T ) = et U(t) = W (t)

(C.9)

We then have, from Eq. C.4,

Therefore, the differential equation has a solution of the form

U(t) = et W (t)

(C.10)

where W(t) is a periodic function.

Proceeding in a similar manner, Floquet generalized the result to a linear differential equation of any order with coefficients that are periodic in one period. He
showed that the solutions have the form of a product of an exponential function and
a periodic function.
The principal difficulty concerns the determination of , which is called the
Floquet exponent. If = 0, the solution is periodic. Otherwise, it is either stable, if
< 0, and unstable if > 0. Usually, cannot be determined analytically. One has
to resort to asymptotic approximations or numerical approaches to determine .

References
1. R. H. Battin, An Introduction to the Mathematics and Methods of Astrodynamics (AIAA,
New York, 1987)
2. Y. C. Tao, Satellite Attitude Prediction by Multiple Scales Sc.D. Dissertation, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1979
3. G. Floquet, Annales de lEcole normale superiere. Sup. 2, 12 (1883)
4. R. V. Ramnath, A Multiple Scales Approach to the Analysis of Linear Systems, (USAFFDL-TR6860 Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, 1960) also R. V. Ramnath, G. Sandri, A generalized multiple
scales approach to a class of linear differential equations. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 28, (1969)
5. J. R. Wertz (eds), Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control : Appendix H (D. Reidel
Publishing Company, Dordrecht, 1978)
6. Ince, Ordinary Differential Equations, Dover, New York
7. P. F. Byrd, M. D. Friedman, Handbook of Elliptic Integrals for Engineers and Scientists. Die
Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften in Einstelldarstellungen Band 67
8. M. Abramowitz, I. A. Stegun, Handbook of Mathematical Functions. Nat. Bur. Standards, Appl.
Math. Series