Control that fits the spacecraft.
Planning around limited control authority; estimating biases and disturbances; adapting control laws to different hardware and goals.
Methods, results, and papers →
Patrick McKeen
MIT AeroAstro
Changing what spacecraft can be.
I develop control, estimation, and autonomy methods that change what spacecraft can do and what hardware they need.
My work connects mathematical methods with spacecraft design: pointing precisely with fewer actuators, coordinating satellites using their environment, and learning how a spacecraft behaves as it operates.
Postdoctoral Associate · Robotic Exploration Lab
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research in focus · Attitude planning
Better pointing from the same actuators.
Selected contributions
From physical limits to new design choices.
Put the environment to work.
Use aerodynamic drag and sunlight to help satellites hold a formation, with geometry and control designed together.
Formation flight and autonomy →Rethink the pointing system.
Explore how better models, calibration, and alternative actuation could enable precise pointing on small and flexible spacecraft.
Current work and next questions →Open research tools
Make it easier to ask “what if?”
GenADCS gives researchers a common framework for changing spacecraft, sensors, actuators, and control methods. It turns a new design choice into an experiment you can compare with the last one.
Explore GenADCS and SALTRO →Define a spacecraft↓Change a sensor, actuator, or method↓Compare the resulting behavior
Teaching & mentoring
Build intuition. Then put it to the test.
I connect mathematical ideas to simulations, measurements, and physical systems. My teaching spans dynamics, astrodynamics, and satellite engineering, alongside laboratory development and research mentorship.
How I teach and mentor →Upcoming
- Autonomous mission planningScheduled oral presentation · i-SAIRAS & iSpaRo, Cologne
- AI in SpaceInvited panelist · i-SAIRAS & iSpaRo
- Modern ADCS conceptsInvited talk · ETH Zürich
Collaborate
What could better control make possible for your spacecraft?
I welcome conversations about spacecraft dynamics, estimation, control, and mission design, especially where a new method could change the hardware or the way a mission operates.
pmckeen@mit.edu →