Modeling a Hohmann Transfer of a Spacecraft

Perform a Hohmann transfer of a spacecraft in Simulink^® using the Orbit Propagator block in Aerospace Blockset™. The Orbit Propagator block can be configured to accept propellant mass flow rate, exhaust velocity, and body moments to represent thrust from the propulsion system and the generated moments from the attitude controller.

The attitude controller consists of an Attitude Profile block in Aerospace Blockset, which returns the shortest quaternion rotation that aligns the spacecraft’s provided alignment axis with the specified target. The cascade controller lets you correct for this so that the spacecraft’s thrust axis aligns with the desired delta-v direction.

The satelliteScenario object in Aerospace Toolbox lets you load previously generated, timestamped ephemeris and attitude data into a scenario from a time-series or timetable object. Data is interpolated in the scenario object to align with the scenario time steps, allowing you to incorporate data generated from a Simulink model into either a new or existing satellite scenario object. The satellite constellation can then be visualized using the Satellite Scenario Viewer.