Integrated controls-structures design - A practical design tool for modern spacecraft

An integrated controls-structures design approach is developed for a class of flexible spacecraft. The integrated design problem is posed in the form of simultaneous optimization of both the structural and the control design variables. The approach is demonstrated by application to the integrated design of a geostationary platform and to a ground-based flexible structure experiment. The numerical results obtained indicate that the integrated design approach can yield spacecraft designs that have substantially superior performance over the conventional design approach wherein the structural design and control design are performed sequentially.