This thesis focuses on the development of guidance and control strategies to perform autonomous spacecraft attitude manoeuvres while complying with pointing constraints and actuators limitations. In particular, the objective of the attitude manoeuvre is to achieve the proper spacecraft orientation allowing a sensitive on-board instrument to be pointed towards a scientific target. When performing the attitude manoeuvre, it must also be ensured that sensitive payloads, such as optical instruments, do not point towards bright celestial objects that could damage those instruments. In order to prevent bright objects from entering the sensor field of view (FOV) during spacecraft reorientation, forbidden pointing zones in three-dimensional space, i.e.