Improved stability of a dual-spin satellite in circular orbit

Abstract

Sufficient conditions for the global stability of equilibrium positions of a dual-spin satellite in a circular orbital system in a Newtonian central force field are obtained by Liapunov's direct method. The new results are compared with those already known. The problem is then studied with respect to all variables, including the angular velocity of the rotor. Further, sufficient conditions for the global stability of rotation with arbitrary angular velocity for an axisymmetric dual-spin satellite are presented by Liapunov's direct method, which improve on Kane's result of infinitesimal stability obtained by linearized equations of motion.