Fuzzy Controller Design for Fuel Saving in Sun Point Mode for KOMPSAT-2

The mission life of a satellite determines the amount of fuel required on-board, while the total mass requirement limits the fuel to be loaded. Hence, for the design of thruster control loop, not only the satellite pointing accuracy but the saving of fuel is to be considered. In this paper, a two-step fuzzy controller is proposed for the thruster control loop to save fuel consumption. This approach combines requirements for pointing control accuracy with minimum fuel consumption into a fuzzy controller design. To demonstrate this approach, we have designed a fuzzy controller for the Sun point Mode of KOMPSAT-2. The performance of this fuzzy controller design is compared with that of PD controller used for KOMPSAT-2.