The Kalman filter application to the problems of spacecraft berthing control

The capability of using the adaptive observer with Kalman filtering to control berthing of a large-sized spacecraft with elastic structural elements to the orbital station is considered. Making the state vector estimates of the approaching spacecraft is based on the use of modal decomposition of its dynamic behavior. The indicated estimates minimize the effect of the increasing intensity of non-stationary noise in signals from sensors, caused by rereflection of radio signals from structural elements of the orbital station, the growing parallax distortions during the rendezvous and elastic vibrations of the approaching spacecraft structure. The algorithm of the spacecraft motion control in the berthing and docking mode is presented. A comparative analysis of the results of mathematical simulation of the control object dynamics in the berthing mode both with the use of Kalman filtering and without it is given.