Nonsingular Predefined-Time Attitude Tracking Control for Rigid Spacecraft with Disturbance Estimation

Zhijiang Zheng; Tianci Wang; Guoqiang Zhao; Chunhua Liu

doi:10.1109/TAES.2026.3710866

Nonsingular Predefined-Time Attitude Tracking Control for Rigid Spacecraft with Disturbance Estimation

Zhijiang Zheng
, Tianci Wang
, Guoqiang Zhao
, Chunhua Liu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Energy and Environment

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

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Abstract

This article proposes a nonsingular predefined-time control scheme incorporating a predefined-time nonlinear disturbance observer (PTNDO). The PTNDO enables the rapid and accurate estimation of external disturbances and modeling deviation. Meanwhile, the predefined-time controller (PTC) ensures precise attitude control of a rigid spacecraft within a predefined time, along with disturbance rejection. Unlike existing PTCs that rely on quadratic or piecewise continuous functions, the proposed PTC is inherently singularity-free, as its error terms remain finite at the origin. Moreover, the PTNDO makes the origin well-defined through function mapping to prevent singularities. This unified control framework not only simplifies implementation but also guarantees predefined-time global stability. The effectiveness of this control scheme is validated through simulations and comparison with existing methods.

© 2026 IEEE

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	14065-14076
Number of pages	12
Journal	IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems
Volume	62
Online published	7 Jul 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TAES.2026.3710866
Publication status	Published - 2026

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Collaborative Research Fund from the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong SAR under CRF Project under Grant C1052-21GF, in part by the RGC Research Fellow Scheme from the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong SAR under RGC Project under Grant RFS2223-1S05, and in part by the General Research Fund from Research Grants Council, Hong Kong SAR under RGC Project under Grant 11217623

Research Keywords

Attitude tracking
disturbance observer
predefined-time
singularity
spacecraft

Publisher's Copyright Statement

COPYRIGHT TERMS OF DEPOSITED POSTPRINT FILE: © 2026 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. Zheng, Z., Wang, T., Zhao, G., & Liu, C. (2026). Nonsingular Predefined-Time Attitude Tracking Control for Rigid Spacecraft with Disturbance Estimation. IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 62, 14065-14076. https://doi.org/10.1109/TAES.2026.3710866

RGC Funding Information

RGC-funded

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10.1109/TAES.2026.3710866

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title = "Nonsingular Predefined-Time Attitude Tracking Control for Rigid Spacecraft with Disturbance Estimation",

abstract = "This article proposes a nonsingular predefined-time control scheme incorporating a predefined-time nonlinear disturbance observer (PTNDO). The PTNDO enables the rapid and accurate estimation of external disturbances and modeling deviation. Meanwhile, the predefined-time controller (PTC) ensures precise attitude control of a rigid spacecraft within a predefined time, along with disturbance rejection. Unlike existing PTCs that rely on quadratic or piecewise continuous functions, the proposed PTC is inherently singularity-free, as its error terms remain finite at the origin. Moreover, the PTNDO makes the origin well-defined through function mapping to prevent singularities. This unified control framework not only simplifies implementation but also guarantees predefined-time global stability. The effectiveness of this control scheme is validated through simulations and comparison with existing methods. {\textcopyright} 2026 IEEE",

keywords = "Attitude tracking, disturbance observer, predefined-time, singularity, spacecraft",

author = "Zhijiang Zheng and Tianci Wang and Guoqiang Zhao and Chunhua Liu",

year = "2026",

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language = "English",

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pages = "14065--14076",

journal = "IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Nonsingular Predefined-Time Attitude Tracking Control for Rigid Spacecraft with Disturbance Estimation

AU - Zheng, Zhijiang

AU - Wang, Tianci

AU - Zhao, Guoqiang

AU - Liu, Chunhua

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - This article proposes a nonsingular predefined-time control scheme incorporating a predefined-time nonlinear disturbance observer (PTNDO). The PTNDO enables the rapid and accurate estimation of external disturbances and modeling deviation. Meanwhile, the predefined-time controller (PTC) ensures precise attitude control of a rigid spacecraft within a predefined time, along with disturbance rejection. Unlike existing PTCs that rely on quadratic or piecewise continuous functions, the proposed PTC is inherently singularity-free, as its error terms remain finite at the origin. Moreover, the PTNDO makes the origin well-defined through function mapping to prevent singularities. This unified control framework not only simplifies implementation but also guarantees predefined-time global stability. The effectiveness of this control scheme is validated through simulations and comparison with existing methods. © 2026 IEEE

AB - This article proposes a nonsingular predefined-time control scheme incorporating a predefined-time nonlinear disturbance observer (PTNDO). The PTNDO enables the rapid and accurate estimation of external disturbances and modeling deviation. Meanwhile, the predefined-time controller (PTC) ensures precise attitude control of a rigid spacecraft within a predefined time, along with disturbance rejection. Unlike existing PTCs that rely on quadratic or piecewise continuous functions, the proposed PTC is inherently singularity-free, as its error terms remain finite at the origin. Moreover, the PTNDO makes the origin well-defined through function mapping to prevent singularities. This unified control framework not only simplifies implementation but also guarantees predefined-time global stability. The effectiveness of this control scheme is validated through simulations and comparison with existing methods. © 2026 IEEE

KW - Attitude tracking

KW - disturbance observer

KW - predefined-time

KW - singularity

KW - spacecraft

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105044379547

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105044379547#tab=impact

U2 - 10.1109/TAES.2026.3710866

DO - 10.1109/TAES.2026.3710866

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 0018-9251

VL - 62

SP - 14065

EP - 14076

JO - IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems

JF - IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems

ER -

Nonsingular Predefined-Time Attitude Tracking Control for Rigid Spacecraft with Disturbance Estimation

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GRF: Noncontact Electromechanical Energy Conversion System: A Novel Wireless Electromagnetic Actuator for Direct Manipulating Apparatus

RFS: Development of Advanced Electric Machines and Smart Power Drives for Electric Propulsion

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Nonsingular Predefined-Time Attitude Tracking Control for Rigid Spacecraft with Disturbance Estimation

Abstract

Funding

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

RGC Funding Information

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Permanent Link

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Projects

GRF: Noncontact Electromechanical Energy Conversion System: A Novel Wireless Electromagnetic Actuator for Direct Manipulating Apparatus

RFS: Development of Advanced Electric Machines and Smart Power Drives for Electric Propulsion

Cite this