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CEAS EuroGNC 2026

Joint Navigation and Control Sensitivity Functions: Towards a Unified Framework for Robust Pointing Verification
Mirko Aveta AOCS Engineer, D-Orbit Spa, Fino Mornasco (CO), Italy.
Abstract:
When spacecraft dynamics are described by a Linear Fractional Representation (LFR)—as is standard in robust AOCS design—analysing the estimation and control loops in isolation no longer reflects true closed-loop behaviour, because parametric uncertainties cause attitude and orbit determination errors to become intrinsically coupled with the control law. This paper addresses that gap by introducing a unified family of sensitivity functions that captures the coupled dynamics of attitude estimation and control actuation. Building on these joint sensitivity functions, a systematic framework for in-orbit system identification of the LFR has been developed. Multisine excitation signals are tuned by optimising the spectral properties of the Fisher Information Matrix (FIM), constructed directly from sensitivity gradients derived from the system LFR. An optimal experiment design is obtained by exciting the five structurally distinct injection points available in the AOCS architecture. Together, these results enable rigorous, frequency-domain verification of stability margins, knowledge error budgets, and pointing error budgets directly from flight data.
Keywords: Pointing; Robust Control; Robust Navigation; AOCS; LFT; System Identification; Fisher Information
 View PDF CEAS-GNC-2026-021 doi: 10.82124/CEAS-GNC-2026-021


Mirko Aveta: Joint Navigation and Control Sensitivity Functions: Towards a Unified Framework for Robust Pointing Verification. Proceedings of the 2026 CEAS EuroGNC conference. Madrid, Spain. May 2026. doi: 10.82124/CEAS-GNC-2026-021.
BibTeX entry (UTF-8):

@Incollection{CEAS-GNC-2026-021,
    author = {Aveta, Mirko},
    title = {Joint Navigation and Control Sensitivity Functions: Towards a Unified Framework for Robust Pointing Verification},
    booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2026 {CEAS EuroGNC} conference},
    address = {Madrid, Spain},
    month = may,
    year = {2026},
    doi = {10.82124/CEAS-GNC-2026-021}
}