Tumbling Satellite Capture: Angular Momentum in Space Robotics

A key challenge for on-orbit servicing and active debris removal is that the target is almost never spinning conveniently — it tumbles freely under its own inertia. This simulator integrates the real torque-free rigid-body equations for an asymmetric satellite (bus plus two solar panels), so choosing the intermediate principal axis produces genuine Dzhanibekov-style flips. A robotic chaser then closes in and grapples the target at a controllable offset and closing speed; at the instant of capture, conservation of angular momentum about the new combined center of mass sets the post-capture spin rate exactly as it would for a real robotic-arm or net-capture mission, with live readouts of spin rate and total angular momentum throughout.