Construction of Controllers in the Problem of Solar-Sail Keeping near a Libration Point of the Sun–Earth System

The possibility of controlling the motion of a solar sail in a vicinity of a collinear libration point of the Sun–Earth system is investigated. An approach is proposed to constructing laws for controlling the orbital motion of a solar sail in the vicinity of a collinear libration point using nonlinear links of “output signal limitation” type. The approach is based on the use of a stable invariant manifold and elements of the theory of automatic regulation. It allows controllers to be constructed for the task of solar-sail keeping near the libration point. The control is implemented in two cases: changing the orientation of the sail or changing its reflectivity. Numerical examples with the solar sail model from the IKAROS project (2010) are considered.