Performance assessment of a multi-step Guidance and Control architecture for approach and capture of a tumbling space target

This paper assesses the performance of a Guidance and Control architecture designed to rendezvous with a tumbling space target. Specifically, it demonstrates its robustness against the uncertainties in the knowledge of the chaser parameters (including the actuators’ mounting configuration), and the variability in the target initial conditions in terms of attitude and angular velocity. Finally, the impact on performance of failures in the actuation system is also analyzed.