Indirect measurement of solar array rotation angle for satellite emergency rescue

In the emergency rescue mission, the primary task is to achieve the satellite’s orientation to the sun and ensure the energy supply. For this purpose, it is necessary to determine the rotation angle of solar array relative to satellite body. However, the rotation angle cannot be measured directly by the angle sensor in case of satellite emergency. To handle this issue, an indirect measurement method of solar array rotation angle is proposed in this paper. First, the indirect point measurement value of solar array rotation angle is given via the relationship between satellite body coordinate frame and solar array coordinate frame and the Rodrigues’ rotation formula. Then, the interval analysis technique is used to determine the upper and lower bounds of rotation angle and evaluate the influence of measurement noises. Based on the determined point measurement value and the interval analysis results, a zonotopic Kalman filter-based strategy is further proposed to improve the measurement accuracy. Finally, the effectiveness and validity of the proposed approach are demonstrated by numerical simulations, which illustrate its engineering application value.