Related papers: Radiometric Actuators for Spacecraft Attitude Cont…
CubeSats are emerging as low-cost tools to perform astronomy, exoplanet searches and earth observation. These satellites can target an object for science observation for weeks on end. This is typically not possible on larger missions where…
Recent spacecraft mission concepts propose larger payloads that have lighter, less rigid structures. For large lightweight structures, the natural frequencies of their vibration modes may fall within the attitude controller bandwidth,…
Small-satellites and CubeSats offer a low-cost pathway to access Low Earth Orbit at altitudes of 450 km and lower thanks to miniaturization and advancement in reliability of commercial electronics. However, at these low altitudes,…
After many years of flying in space primarily for educational purposes, CubeSats - tiny satellites with form factors corresponding to arrangements of "1U" units, or cubes, each 10 cm on a side - have come into their own as valuable…
Attitude control hardware for small satellites is often limited in power and space availability given the importance of the science instruments they exist to transport. To mitigate this, a dual-spin stabilized satellite actuated via…
CubeSats are small satellites built in standard sizes and form factors, which have been growing in popularity but have thus far been largely ignored within the field of astronomy. When deployed as space-based telescopes, they enable science…
Various actuators are used in spacecraft to achieve attitude stabilization, including thrusters, momentum wheels, and control moment gyros. Small satellites, however, have stringent size, weight, and cost constraints, which makes many…
The Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS) is a 3 Unit (3U) CubeSat designed for a 3-month mission to study solar soft X-ray spectral irradiance. The first of the two flight models was deployed from the International Space Station in…
As satellites become smaller, the ability to maintain stable pointing decreases as external forces acting on the satellite come into play. At the same time, reaction wheels used in the attitude determination and control system (ADCS)…
This paper describes the development of a magnetic attitude control subsystem for a 2U cubesat. Due to the presence of gravity gradient torques, the satellite dynamics are open-loop unstable near the desired pointing configuration.…
A Drag-Free CubeSat mission has been proposed to demonstrate the feasibility of a Gravitational Reference Sensor (GRS) with an optical readout for a 3 units (3U) spacecraft. A purely drag-free object is defined by the absence of all…
CubeSats have the potential to expand astrophysical discovery space, complementing ground-based electromagnetic and gravitational-wave observatories. The CubeSat design specifications help streamline delivery of instrument payloads to…
A breakthrough in exoplanet detections is foreseen with the unprecedented astrometric measurement capabilities offered by instrumentation aboard Gaia space observatory. Besides, astrometric discoveries of exoplanets are expected from the…
This paper introduces a novel attitude controller for spacecraft subject to actuator saturation and multiple exclusion cone constraints. The proposed solution relies on a two-layer approach where the first layer prestabilizes the system…
Accurate and stable spacecraft pointing is a requirement of many astronomical observations. Pointing particularly challenges nanosatellites because of an unfavorable surface area to mass ratio and proportionally large volume required for…
CubeSats are small satellites used for scientific experiments because they cost less than full sized satellites. Each CubeSat uses an on-board computer. The on-board computer performs sensor measurements, data processing, and CubeSat…
Satellites are subject to various severe vibration during different phases of flight. The concept of satellite smart adapter is proposed in this study to achieve active vibration control of launch vehicle on satellite. The satellite smart…
Exploration of asteroids and small-bodies can provide valuable insight into the origins of the solar system, into the origins of Earth and the origins of the building blocks of life. However, the low-gravity and unknown surface conditions…
This paper discusses the design and the performance achievable with active aerodynamic attitude control in very low Earth orbit, i.e. below 450 km in altitude. A novel real-time algorithm is proposed for selecting the angles of deflection…
When the first CubeSats were launched nearly two decades ago, few people believed that the miniature satellites would likely prove to be a useful scientific tool. Skeptics abounded. However, the last decade has seen the highly successful…