Parametric excitation induced by solar pressure torque on the roll-yaw attitude motion of a gravity-gradient stabilized spacecraft

The parametric excitation of a gravity gradient stabilized spacecraft induced by the periodic solar pressure torque is discussed. The solar pressure torque in the linearized equations of motion appears as linear terms with periodic coefficients. The attitude stability is analyzed numerically through the calculation of the Floquet multiplier. The perturbation method is also applied to identify the instability condition analytically. It is made clear that the periodic solar pressure torque can destabilize the coupled roll and yaw attitude motion of the spacecraft. It is also shown that the conditions of parametric resonance are included in the gravity gradient stability condition. Nonlinear simulations are also carried out to verify the effect of the parametric resonance. The numerical simulation using actual parameters shows that the spacecraft inevitably experiences a large amplitude attitude motion due to the periodic solar pressure torque even if the gravity gradient stability condition is satisfied.