Control Requirements for Robust Beamforming in Multi-Satellite Systems

Abstract: This work investigates the impact of position and attitude perturbations on the beamforming performance of multi-satellite systems. The system under analysis is a formation of small satellites equipped with direct radiating arrays that synthesise a large virtual antenna aperture. The results show that performance is highly sensitive to the considered perturbations. However, by incorporating position and attitude information into the beamforming process, nominal performance can be effectively restored. These findings support the development of control-aware beamforming strategies that tightly integrate the attitude and orbit control system with signal processing to enable robust beamforming and autonomous coordination.