Hierarchal PWA MPC-based Imaging Control with Eccentric Reaction Wheels and Magnetorquers for Very Low Earth Orbit Missions

Hierarchal PWA MPC-based Imaging Control with Eccentric Reaction Wheels and Magnetorquers for Very Low Earth Orbit Missions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Hierarchal PWA MPC-based Imaging Control with Eccentric Reaction Wheels and Magnetorquers for Very Low Earth Orbit Missions Xiaohua Zhang, Shu Yang, Wee Seng Lim This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8558763/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Extremely Low-earth Imaging and Technology Explorer (ELITE) is a Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) satellite designed to innovatively achieve 0.5 m Ground Sample Distance (GSD) at 250 km (RGB, colour), which is highly sensitive to misalignments in satellite attitude control. However, ELITE's attitude control, already complex and computationally intensive due to its hybrid actuators and strong nonlinearity, will be further compromised by increasing disturbances from its eccentric reaction wheels and large solar panels, particularly as it descends to lower altitudes. Moreover, the centrifugal torques generated by the reaction wheels will render high-resolution imaging missions unfeasible. A novel cooperative attitude controller based on Hierarchal Piece-wise Affine MPC (HPWA MPC) is designed to distribute computational resources efficiently, enhance system robustness, and improve control accuracy. The cooperative hierarchal design involves different control periods for ELITE's hybrid actuator system of reaction wheels and magnetorquers to reduce computational complexity. The PWA model simplifies the complex non-linear system into highly accurate, discrete linear models for reliable linear estimation. A disturbance observer is proposed to provide real-time estimation and compensation for centrifugal disturbance torques to eliminate the uncertainties. The simulation results demonstrate that the HPWA MPC can meet the attitude control accuracy requirements for high-resolution imaging missions, even under increasing disturbances from ELITE's eccentric reaction wheels and large solar panels in VLEO. This enables ELITE to successfully complete its high-resolution imaging mission, highlighting the effectiveness of the proposed framework. Very Low Earth Orbit High-resolution imaging Eccentric reaction wheel Piece-wise affine Hierarchal MPC Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 29 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 26 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 09 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 14 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 12 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 09 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8558763","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":588207598,"identity":"2b0977a7-5866-4f7d-a15d-bb3eab55cc4f","order_by":0,"name":"Xiaohua Zhang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABDklEQVRIie3OMUvDQBTA8RcOzuVp1jsO7Vc4CEREiF+lkqFLFxFKQUkDgXwGi8Hv4JI5ctAsoqugSyh0cnEwdOxditjl2o6C9+d4uQy/vAC4XH8x0h0dM2MMv/c9yfP6sZ3AJvHyPYisSTO/yiPo3WeL5vvhI5EVeXpHSKLUQnhGg2Cax+AVs9PguFwwWdH4HEHFNuITCMVhToCwfih4qTTBUCBUse3HKDloNZkAZYNW8MIQv9UksRKfoNmiANkw5F9pt4VqQiIb4RleB/hSI2PDkYCZ4lNFg7NCqr6NyNf6cY6jm5Pe3aDky1vlH9VZ8/Y5Ti5s5Cc0g6xn9ym4THcZk7fceNm5xeVyuf5NK2MPSCfCt0XCAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Nanyang Technological University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaohua","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":588207601,"identity":"f0e866ab-bee0-4620-b87c-5093fc773d5f","order_by":1,"name":"Shu Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanyang Technological University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shu","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":588207602,"identity":"221b9547-ae1c-4a38-97fa-be0fe767a21d","order_by":2,"name":"Wee Seng Lim","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanyang Technological University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wee","middleName":"Seng","lastName":"Lim","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-09 08:53:10","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8558763/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8558763/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102398181,"identity":"7447e3ee-07de-4071-b4b8-d546fa93e93a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-11 10:21:39","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":976297,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8558763/v1_covered_8fa59dd6-2527-4cf7-a1fb-faa2def9b3ed.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Hierarchal PWA MPC-based Imaging Control with Eccentric Reaction Wheels and Magnetorquers for Very Low Earth Orbit Missions","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"ceas-space-journal","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"ceas","sideBox":"Learn more about [CEAS Space Journal](http://link.springer.com/journal/12567)","snPcode":"12567","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/12567/3","title":"CEAS Space Journal","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Very Low Earth Orbit, High-resolution imaging, Eccentric reaction wheel, Piece-wise affine, Hierarchal MPC","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8558763/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8558763/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eExtremely Low-earth Imaging and Technology Explorer (ELITE) is a Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) satellite designed to innovatively achieve 0.5 m Ground Sample Distance (GSD) at 250 km (RGB, colour), which is highly sensitive to misalignments in satellite attitude control. However, ELITE's attitude control, already complex and computationally intensive due to its hybrid actuators and strong nonlinearity, will be further compromised by increasing disturbances from its eccentric reaction wheels and large solar panels, particularly as it descends to lower altitudes. Moreover, the centrifugal torques generated by the reaction wheels will render high-resolution imaging missions unfeasible. A novel cooperative attitude controller based on Hierarchal Piece-wise Affine MPC (HPWA MPC) is designed to distribute computational resources efficiently, enhance system robustness, and improve control accuracy. The cooperative hierarchal design involves different control periods for ELITE's hybrid actuator system of reaction wheels and magnetorquers to reduce computational complexity. The PWA model simplifies the complex non-linear system into highly accurate, discrete linear models for reliable linear estimation. 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