Attitude Determination and Control System Design for a 6U Cube Sat for Proximity Operations and Rendezvous

Abstract

The work presented in this paper focuses on the design of an attitude determination and control subsystem (ADCS) for a proximity operation and imaging satellite mission. The ARAPAIMA (Application for Resident Space Object Proximity Analysis and IMAging) mission is carried out by a 6 U CubeSat class satellite equipped with a warm gas propulsion system. The propulsion system comprises an orbital maneuvering thruster which produces 100 mN and a set of 16 reaction control system (RCS) thrusters, of 25 mN each, installed in pairs that generate torques about each of the satellite body axes. The thrust of the RCS thrusters can be modulated over the entire range in steps of 1% due to the rapid solenoid valve actuation. The requirement of the control system is to provide pointing control accuracy of 1 arc min at 3 in the desired imaging direction. The ADCS employs two control aws. One control law, for large angle maneuvers, implements eigen axis maneuvering and the other, for accurate pointing, is implemented with PID controllers about each body axis.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 04, 2014
Accession Number
AD1034465

Entities

People

  • Bogdan Udrea
  • Francisco J. Franquiz
  • Michael V. Nayak
  • Peter Edwards
  • Thorsten Pueschl

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Angular Momentum
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Astronautics
  • Control Systems
  • Earth Orbits
  • Inertial Measurement Units
  • Low Earth Orbits
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Momentum
  • Optical Properties
  • Orbits
  • Radiation
  • Radiation Pressure
  • Simulations
  • Solar Radiation
  • Space Objects

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Propulsion Engineering.
  • Robotics and Automation.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster
  • Space - Satellites
  • Space - Space Objects
  • Space - Spacecraft Maneuvers