CEAS EuroGNC 2026 Conference on Guidance, Navigation & Control>
Post-Capture Detumbling of Satellites: A Combined Robust INDI and MPC Approach
João Diz  1, 2, *@  , Afonso Botelho  2, 3@  , Paulo Rosa  4@  , Spilios Theodoulis  5@  
1 : Delft University of Technology
2 : Indra Deimos
3 : Instituto Superior Tecnico, University of Lisbon
4 : Indra Deimos
5 : Delft University of Technology
* : Corresponding author

The increasing population of defunct satellites and debris in Earth orbit poses a significant threat to the sustainability of future space operations, making active debris removal a critical capability for in-orbit servicing (IOS). A key challenge in such missions is post-capture detumbling, where the combined chaser–target system must be stabilized despite large and uncertain inertia variations, underactuation, and strict actuator limits. This work proposes a novel guidance and control framework that integrates Incremental Nonlinear Dynamic Inversion (INDI), H-infinity Open Loop Shaping, and Model Predictive Control (MPC) to achieve safe and robust post-capture detumbling. INDI provides real-time linearization and adaptive compensation for modeling errors, while H-infinity tuning offers formal robustness guarantees, and MPC - whose design is simplified by exploiting the INDI linearization - provides a guidance trajectory that enforces actuator and state constraints while optimizing performance objectives. The approach is validated through nonlinear simulations, demonstrating that the H-infinity-tuned INDI control system can stabilize the satellite stack under large inertia uncertainty but causes transient actuator saturation and large angular rates. In contrast, the combined MPC & INDI framework achieves constraint-compliant detumbling and a decrease in settling time. These results establish a robust and computationally efficient guidance and control solution for post-capture operations and lay the groundwork for future extensions including flexible dynamics and fuel sloshing effects.


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