Robust Attitude Stabilization of Spacecraft Using Nonlinear Quaternion Feedback

This paper considers the problem of three-axis attitude stabilization of a rigid spacecraft. A nonlinear control law which uses the feedback of the unit quaternion and the measured angular velocities is proposed and is shown to provide global asymptotic stability. The control law does not require the knowledge of the system parameters and is, therefore, robust to modeling errors. The significance of the control law is that it can be used for large-angle maneuvers with guaranteed stability.