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The paper presents the design and some simulated results of the attitude control of a satellite formation under study by the European Space Agency for the Next Generation Gravity Mission. The formation consists of two spacecraft which fly more than 200 km apart at an altitude from the Earth's ground of between 300 and 400 km. The attitude control must keep the optical axes of the two spacecraft aligned with a microradian accuracy (pointing control). This is made possible by specific optical sensors accompanying the inter-satellite laser interferometer, which is the main payload of the mission. These sensors allow each spacecraft to actuate autonomous alignment after a suitable acquisition procedure. Pointing control is constrained by the angular drag-free control, which is imposed by mission science (Earth gravimetry at a low Earth orbit), and must zero the angular acceleration vector below 0.

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