The challenging tracking control issue for a space manipulator subject to parametric uncertainty and unknown disturbance is addressed in this paper. An observer-based fixed-time terminal sliding mode control methodology is put forward. Firstly, a nonlinear disturbance observer is introduced for exactly reconstructing the lumped uncertainty without requiring any prior knowledge of the lumped uncertainty. Meanwhile, the estimation time’s upper bound is not only irrelevant to the initial estimation error but can be directly predicted in advance via a specific parameter in the observer. Invoking the estimated information, a fast fixed-time tracking controller with strong robustness is designed, where a novel sliding mode surface incorporated enables faster convergence. The globally fixed-time stability of the closed-loop tracking system is rigorously demonstrated through Lyapunov stability analysis. Finally, numerical simulations and comparisons verify the validity and superiority of the suggested controller.
