Mass and mass center identification of target satellite after rendezvous and docking

After rendezvous and docking, the mass and mass center of target satellite can change greatly. In order to identify the mass and mass center of target satellite, research is made about the identification of mass and mass center about target satellite. As to the mass of target satellite, according to the information when the tracking satellite is located in different relatively stable position with the target satellite, respectively, methods are discussed in allusion to the linear momentum of known and unknown in both cases, using the least square method to identify mass of target satellite directly. As to the mass center of target satellite, the method of using one point three orientations' acceleration together with gyro information, using three points' single orientation acceleration together with gyro information and using four points three orientations' acceleration without gyro information to identify mass center of the combination satellite is proposed. Then, the mass center of target satellite can be identified further. The simulation results show that the mass center can be identified within 2s. When the precision of acceleration is higher than 10-6g, the error of mass center identification can be lower than 2mm. The method of identifying mass of target satellite directly is deduced. Moreover, the mass center of target satellite can be identified quickly with a simple and reliable method which can provide certain reference for engineering practice.