PHYS 4110 – Dynamics of Space Vehicles

Chapter 5: Coordinate Transformation

Earth, Moon, Mars, and Beyond

Dr. Jinjun Shan, Associate Professor of Space Engineering

Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering

Room 255, Petrie Science and Engineering Building
Tel: 416-736 2100 ext. 33854
Email: jjshan@yorku.ca
Homepage: http://www.yorku.ca/jjshan

Reference Frames

 A reference frame is a set of three mutually perpendicular

(orthogonal) unit vectors
 Typical notations include

ˆi ˆj kˆ , Iˆ Jˆ K
ˆ , eˆ eˆ eˆ , bˆ bˆ bˆ
1 2 3 1 2 3

 Typical reference frames of interest for space vehicles

include
 ECI (Earth-centered inertial)

 Perifocal (Earth-centered, orbit-based inertial)

 ECEF (Earth-centered, Earth-fixed, rotating)

 Orbital (Earth-centered, orbit-based, rotating)

 Body (vehicle-fixed, rotating)

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 Vectors Expressed in Reference Frames

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Vectors Expressed in Reference Frames

 Frequently we collect the components of the vector into a matrix

 v1 

V  v2 
 
 v 3 

 When we can easily identify the associated reference frame, we

use the simple notation above; however, when multiple reference
frames are involved, we use a subscript to make the connection
clear.

 Examples:

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 Further Vector Notation
 Matrix multiplication arises frequently in dynamics and control, and
an interesting application involves the 31 matrix of a vector’s
components and the 31 “matrix” of a frame’s base vectors*

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Rotations from One Frame to Another

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 Rotation Matrix - 1

Q11 Q12 Q13 

Q  Q21 Q22 Q23 
 
Q31 Q32 Q33 

Q11 Q21 Q31 

Q  Q12 Q22 Q32 
T
 
Q13 Q23 Q33 

V  QV

V  QT V

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Rotation Matrix - 2

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 Rotation Matrix - 3

 The rotation matrix represents the attitude.

 A rotation matrix has 9 numbers, but they are not
independent.
 There are 6 constraints on the 9 elements of a rotation
matrix (what are they?).
 Rotation has 3 degrees of freedom.
 There are many different sets of parameters that can be used
to represent or parameterize rotations.
 Euler angles, Euler parameters (aka quaternions), Rodrigues
parameters (aka Gibbs vectors), Modified Rodrigues
parameters, …

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“ 1” Rotation

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 “ 2” Rotation

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“ 3” Rotation

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 Rotation Matrix - 3

1 0 0 
R1 ( )  0 cos sin 
 
0  sin cos 

cos 0  sin  
R 2 ( )   0 1 0 
 
 sin  0 cos 

 cos sin  0
R 3 ( )   sin  cos 0
 
 0 0 1

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Euler Angle - 1

 Each rotation is through an angle (Euler angle) about

a specified axis.

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 Euler Angle - 2

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Euler Angle - 3

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 Euler Angle - 4

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Earth-Centered Inertial (ECI)

 Also called “Celestial

Coordinates”
 I-axis is in vernal equinox K̂
direction
 K-axis is Earth’s rotation
axis, perpendicular to
equatorial plane
 J-axis is in the equatorial
plane and finishes the “triad” Ĵ
of unit vectors Î
 IJ-plane is the equatorial
plane Towards Sun at
vernal equinox
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 Perifocal Frame

 Earth-centered, orbit-
based, inertial
Q̂ Ŵ
 P-axis is in periapsis
direction P̂
 W-axis is perpendicular
to orbital plane (direction
of orbit angular
 
momentum vector, r  v) Q̂
 Q-axis is in the orbital
plane and finishes the
“triad” of unit vectors P̂

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Orbital Frame

v
 Same as “roll-pitch-yaw”
frame, for spacecraft.
 The o3 axis is in the nadir ô1
direction.
 The o2 axis is in the
negative orbit normal 
direction.  r ô 3
 The o1 axis completes the
triad, and is in the velocity ô 2
vector direction for circular
orbits.
 In the orbital frame, position  ŵ
and velocity both have zero
in the o2 direction, and
position has zero in the o1
direction as well.
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 Body-Fixed Frame
 Applicable to any type of b̂1
vehicle ô1
b̂ 3
 Typically denoted using “b”
unit vectors ô3
b̂ 2 ô 2

For spacecraft:
 The b3 axis is in the nadir

direction b̂1
 The b2 axis is in the negative
ô1
orbit normal direction b̂3
 The b1 axis completes the ô3
triad, and is in the velocity
vector direction for circular
orbits b̂ 2 ô 2
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Inertial Frame to Perifocal Frame - 1

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 Inertial Frame to Perifocal Frame - 2

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Inertial Frame to Perifocal Frame - 3

3-1-3 sequence

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 Perifocal Frame to Orbital Frame - 1
2-3-2 sequence

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Inertial to Perifocal to Orbital

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 Example

 In an inertial reference frame, an Earth-orbiting satellite has

position and velocity vectors:

r  6000 Iˆ  10,000 Jˆ  5000 K
ˆ km

v  5Iˆ  2 Jˆ  1K
ˆ km/s
Find the position and velocity vectors in the perifocal frame and
orbital frame.

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