INGEGNERIA SPAZIALE E ASTRONAUTICA

SPACECRAFT DESIGN

SPEC
Stellar Population and Evolution with CubeSat

AA. 2017/2018
Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

ATTITUDE DETERMINATION & CONTROL

SYSTEM GROUP
Students: Alberto Herrero Vaquero, Ivan Valencia Sanchez, Suman Basnet, Nageswara Rao, Joel Shaji

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE NO.

NO.
A. ACRONYMS 3
1. INTRODUCTION 4
1.1 OVERVIEW 5
2. DEFINITIONS AND THEORIES 5
2.1 REFERENCE CO-ORDINATE SYSTEMS 5
2.2 EARTH CENTERED INERTIAL FRAME 5
2.3 EARTH CENTERED EARTH FIXED FRAME 5
2.4 ATTITUDE CONTROL ACTUATORS 6
2.4.1 MAGNETORQUERS 6
2.4.2 REACTION WHEELS 7
2.5 ATTITUDE DETERMINATION SENSORS 7
2.5.1 STAR SENSORS 7
2.5.2 SUN SENSORS 8
2.5.3 THREE-AXIS MAGNETOMETER 8
3. COMPONENTS 9
3.1 ADCS MODULE 10
3.2 REACTION WHEELS 11
3.3 STAR TRACKER 12
4. CALCULATION 13
4.1 DISTURBANCE TORQUES 13
4.1.1 GRAVITY GRADIENT 13
4.1.2 SOLAR RADIATION 13
4.1.3 AERODYNAMIC DRAG 14
4.2 MANEUVER 14
4.2.1 REORIENTATION MANEUVER 14
4.2.2 TIME BETWEEN DESATURATION 14
5. CONCLUSION 16

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Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

CHAPTER A
ACRONYMS

ADCS Attitude Determination & Control System

ACS Attitude Control System
ADS Attitude Determination System
ECI Earth Centered Inertial (reference frame)
ECEF Earth Centered Earth Fixed (reference frame)
TRF Terrestrial Reference Frame
CGM Control Moment Gyroscope
RW Reaction Wheel
LEO Low Earth Orbit
1U One 10 × 10 ×10 cm CubeSat
arcsec Arc second: 1 arcsec = 15˚/3600
mNm miliNewton · meter
mNms miliNewton · Meter · second
ODS Orbit Determination System
OBC On Board Computer

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Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

This report deals with the attitude determination and control subsystem of the 6U CubeSat
developed by the students of Sapienza Università di Roma, attending the course of Spacecraft
Design, Faculty of Engineering. This report contains 5 chapters each dealing with a specific portion
of the work carried out for the ADCS subsystem.
Chapter - 1 It includes an introduction as to what an ADCS does as well as a brief look at what
components and theories contribute to its final outlook.
Chapter - 2 It gives an insight into the theories behind attitude determination as well as control.
Also, an introduction and definition of the different types of components can be found in this
chapter.
Chapter - 3 It further expands the report by stating the details and specifications of the
components chosen for this mission and defending the choices in turn answering a few “Why”
questions.
Chapter - 4 It is all about calculations of various parameters to be dealt with by the ADCS. Details
of formulae, concepts and values will be described in it, also answering a few “How”
questions.

1.1 OVERVIEW

To be able to take photos of the distant target star, an attitude determination and control system
(ADCS) is required. It will be used for pointing the camera, which is fixed in the satellite structure.
Furthermore, it shall be needed after deployment for detumbling of the satellite. Between photo-
tasks the ADCS is needed for pointing the satellite sides with solar panels towards the Sun to
maximize the power input. This also secures that the camera is not pointed directly towards the
Sun.
The development of the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) has been split up into
two parts.
1. The Attitude Control (ACS) part containing the main task of maintaining or changing the
satellite’s attitude, based on information about the same.
2. The second part of the ADCS consists of the Attitude Determination (ADS), whose main
purpose is to determine the current attitude of the satellite by use of on-board sensors,
mathematical models used as reference to measurements. This report will deal with the
subject of attitude determination and control of the 6U CubeSat.

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CHAPTER 2
DEFINITIONS AND USEFUL THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE

When the attitude determination and control subsystem in the satellite has been initialized, the
satellite will start a detumbling maneuver. The detumbling is performed to slow down any rotations
of the satellite, which may be caused by its deployment. When detumbling is performed the
satellite will point the solar panels towards the Sun to collect as much power as possible. As soon as
the first communication with the satellite is established, the satellite will receive the properties of
its orbit, to obtain knowledge about its position.

2.1 REFERENCE COORDINATE SYSTEMS

To define an orbit around Earth, two specific Earth related coordinate systems are given
beforehand. They both have their origin in the geometrical center of the Earth and are named the
Earth Centered Inertial (ECI) coordinate frame and the Earth Centered Earth Fixed (ECEF)
coordinate frame.

2.2 EARTH CENTRED INERTIAL FRAME

Also known as ECI, it represents a coordinate system with origin in the centre of Earth, which is
fixed relative to the Earth’s rotation. Its X-axis is parallel with the Vernal Equinox (The axis around
which the Earth rotational axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane) and its Z-axis, which is parallel
with the Earth rotational axis (Fig.1).

Figure 1 : Earth Centered Inertial Reference Frame

2.3 EARTH CENTRED EARTH FIXED FRAME

The second coordinate frame is the Earth Centred Earth Fixed (ECEF) coordinate frame or simply,
terrestrial reference frame (TRF). In this frame the X-axis is passing through the zero longitude, also
known as Greenwich meridian, and has a Z-axis parallel with the rotational axis. In this way the ECEF
frame is fixed to the earth itself and rotates around with it (Fig.2).

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Figure 2: Earth Centered Earth Fixed Reference Frame

2.4 ATTITUDE CONTROL ACTUATORS

Magnetorquers, momentum/reaction wheels, thrusters, control moment gyroscopes (CGM) are the
few known possible actuators. Thrusters and CGM are considerably high in size and mass and hence
can be eliminated from our options.

2.4.1 MAGNETORQUERS
A magnetorquer or magnetic torquer (also known as torque rod) is a satellite system for attitude
control, detumbling and desaturation, built from electromagnetic coils. The magnetorquer creates a
magnetic field that interfaces with an ambient magnetic field, usually Earth's, so that the counter-
forces produced provide useful torque. It has been chosen to use Magnetorquers mainly due to
their limited size. They are also lightweight, highly reliable due to the absence of moving parts and
energy-efficient. Unlike thrusters, they do not require expendable propellant either (Fig.3).

Figure 3: An example of a magnetorquer from the company “Innovative Solutions In Space”

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2.4.2 REACTION WHEELS

A reaction wheel (RW) is a type of flywheel used by spacecraft for attitude control (about its own
axis) without using fuel for rockets or other reaction devices. They may also reduce the mass
fraction needed for fuel. This is accomplished by equipping the spacecraft with an electric motor
attached to a flywheel which, when its rotation speed is changed, causes the spacecraft to begin to
counter-rotate proportionately through conservation of angular momentum (Fig.4).

Figure 4 : A Reaction Wheel

2.5 ATTITUDE DETERMINATION SENSORS

Three-axis attitude control is needed for our 6U CubeSat (to point continuously to the target star).
In order to have three-axis attitude control it is necessary to determine a full three-axis attitude
given in the ECI frame. The reference sensors considered for the 6U CubeSat are: Star sensors, sun
sensors and three axis magnetometers.

2.5.1 STAR SENSORS

Star sensors (also known as star trackers) are cameras used for recognizing star patterns in the
sensor’s field of view. The location of two or more stars on the sensor is enough to determine the
attitude of the satellite. This means that a star sensor alone can determine a three-axis attitude,
when pointing towards the sky. An on-board star database is necessary for recognizing star patterns
and determining vectors in the ECI frame (Fig.5).

Figure 5 : A Star Tracker

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Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

2.5.2 SUN SENSORS

Figure 6: Nano analog Sun Sensor (of CubeSatShop)

Sun sensors are used for providing a vector measurement to the Sun. Sun sensors are available in
various designs, small sizes and low mass of just a few grams. Different designs exist for making
double or three axis sun sensors. The measured Sun vector is compared to an on-board model of
the direction to the Sun in the ECI frame. Incoming Earth Albedo on a sun sensor will affect the
accuracy of the sensor.

2.5.3 THREE-AXIS MAGNETOMETER

In Low Earth Orbit, where the magnetic field of the Earth is well defined, a strong 3-axis
magnetometer will provide valuable attitude information. The measured magnetic field vector is
compared to an on-board reference model of the magnetic field for the determination of the
satellite’s attitude (Fig.6).

Figure 7: a) NSS tri-axial magnetometer b) Schematic representation of a three-axis magnetometer

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Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

CHAPTER 3
COMPONENTS

A crucial part of the ADCS work is the research of satellite components, specifically components
that could be used for the cube sat design, continuing to improve the spacecraft Attitude
Determination and control system. This included both actuators, to maneuver the cube sat and
sensors, to detect the orientation of the satellite relative to both the sun and the earth, etc.
The actuators were selected based on three key factors: mass, power required while operating and
their size, as the Cube Sat has very specific sizing requirements. In addition, the cost and complexity
of the components was considered, for this reason, it was discarded the option self-developed
components. There are many components ready and tested for cube sat standards.
Regarding the star sensors, they were chosen based upon their mass, size, and power as well, but
more consideration was given to the accuracy of the component to fit the payload requirements.
Therefore, the components can be summarized on:
1. ADCS module
2. 3 x Reaction wheels
3. 2 x Star trackers

Figure 8: Block Diagram of ADCS hardware components

OBC (On-Board Computer/Controller) a.k.a. main on-board computer is a system that controls the
overall operation in the satellite. Its task involves monitoring all the subsystems, maintain the
operational integrity and execute the command received form the ground station. The control
board which consists the ADS and ADC whose objective is to receive the information of attitude
from the sensors and perform the attitude control operation via. Magnetorquer or/and reaction
wheels.

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Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

3.1 ADCS MODULE

Name

Magnetic ADCS Integrated System

Manufacturer (Country)

CubeSpace (South Africa)

Description Figure 9: Compact ADCS Module (of CubeSpace)

Magnetic ADCS Integrated System is a combination of magnetic actuators and sensors for
nanosatellites with advanced attitude control requirements. This Attitude Determination and
Control System is a standard 3-Axis unit cube and it consists on:
1. Cube Computer: Radiation tolerant OBC
2. Cube Control: Sensor and actuator interface board + 3-Axis Gyro
3. 10x Coarse Sun Sensors: Sun-sensitive photodiodes
4. 2x CubeTorquer Rods + 1x CubeTorquer Coil
5. 1x CubeMag: Deployable 3-Axis magnetometer
6. Compiled Magnetic ADCS Control Program (ACP) Running on computer
The Cube ADCS OBC could also serve as a main satellite OBC. It’s consists of an integrated stack of
Cube Space components with UART, I2C, and CAN interfaces to other satellite subsystems. High-
level ADCS software libraries are also available on this Cube ADCS. Also, it is compact and has low
power consumption.
Performance parameters

Detumble (B-Dot), High rate Detumble (B-Dot),

Control Modes Very High rate Detumble (B-Dot), Y-Thomson,
Sun-spin
Estimation Modes MEMS rate filter, Magnetic Rate Kalman Filter,
TRIAD, Full-state EKF, MEMS Gyro EKF
Control Loop rate 1 Hz
Rate measurement accuracy < 0.02°/s (3σ)
Attitude measurement accuracy < 3° (3σ)
Rate control accuracy < 0.3°/s (3σ)

Physical specifications

Mass 203 g
Volume 90 x 96 x 31mm (0.31U)

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Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

3.2 REACTION WHEEL

Name

Cube Wheel (Medium size)

Manufacturer (Country)

Cube Space (South Africa) Figure 10: a) Reaction wheel with embedded control board b) Different
views of Reaction wheel
Description

Cube wheel consists of highly balanced fly wheel disc, brushless motor, driver and microcontroller.
This wheel can be given a speed reference command through I2C, UART and CAN and integrates
easily with any ADAC system. For our purpose, we require 3 reaction wheels along each axes. Its
flight heritage is more than 10 years in-flight.
Performance parameters

Speed Range ± 6000 rpm

Speed Control Accuracy Less than 5 rpm
Operating Volatage 3.3 V / 6.5 – 18 V
Maximum Torque 1.0 mNm
Momentum Storage (at max rpm) 10.82 mNms
Peak Power (at max Torque) < 2.3 W
Average Power (at 2000 rpm (8 V; 25 C)) < 190 mW
Operational range -10 to 70 °C

Physical specifications

Mass 150 gram

Dimensions 46 x 46 x 31.5 mm

Cost
6,500 USD

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Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

3.3 STAR TRACKER

Name

Star Tracker
Manufacturer (Country)

South Africa
Figure 11: Star Tracker
Description

The star tracker provides the high accuracy, or fine pointing information for the ADS. The sensors
are essentially cameras that take pictures of stars. They use the star light intensity and the relative
positions to determine what stars are in the picture. Once this is established, through one of many
possible algorithms, the sensor attitude can be determined. Each star tracker generally provides
three axis of information. The accuracy of a typical star tracker on a large spacecraft is few arc
seconds. This accuracy degrades as the sensor gets smaller and the optics less refined. Star trackers
are very expensive instruments.
This star tracker is lightest and fully autonomous with low power consumption which is aimed at
application in pico- and nano-satellite platforms like ours.
Performance parameters

Minimum 180 mW
Power Consumption Typical 600 mW (at 3.65 V, at 5 Hz update rate)
Maximum 1000 mW
Update rate 5 Hz
Supply Voltage 3.65 V (3.6 V – 5.0 V)
Interface TTL UART
Attitude determination Pitch, Yaw 30 arc seconds (3σ)
Accuracy Roll 200 arc seconds (3σ)
Maximum slew rate (tilt/tilt) >3°/s
Maximum slew rate (roll) >0.6°/s
Operating temperature -20 - +40 °C

Physical specifications

Mass (excluding baffle) 42 grams

Outer dimensions 29 x 29 x 38.1 mm

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Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

CHAPTER 4
CALCULATIONS

4.1 DISTURBANCE TORQUES

Along this chapter different disturbance torques are going to be evaluated in order to be able to
size the components. In that way, the worst case is taking as a reference.
The disturbance torques token into account are gravity gradient, solar radiation and atmospheric
drag. Magnetic perturbations were studied due to the presence of magneto-torques in the ADCS
system; they are able to counteract these perturbations.
4.1.1 GRAVITY GRADIENT
An object in low Earth orbit experiences different gravitational attraction in distinct parts of it, depending on
their distance from the center of the Earth. This force is relatively weak, yet sufficient to stabilize some
satellites in a vertical orientation relative to the local horizon. This stabilization sometimes is not desired and
it becomes a disturbance which is needed to deal with.

In order to quantify the gravitational torque, the following expression is used:

$%
𝑇" = 𝐼* − 𝐼, sin 2𝜃 …….. (1)
&' (

Where 𝑇" is the maximum gravity torque, 𝜇 is the Earth’s gravity constant, R is the orbit radius, 𝐼* and 𝐼, are
the moments of inertia about z and y axes, 𝜃 is the maximum deviation of the Z-axis from the local vertical (it
was supposed 45 degrees in order to get the worst case).

The result is ~𝟏𝟎6𝟕 Nm.

4.1.2 SOLAR RADIATION

Photons coming from the Sun produce a pressure on the spacecraft surfaces that are illuminated.
Assuming total absorption of the solar radiation, the overall effect depends on the projection of the
surface area in the plane orthogonal to the Sun direction. As a first approaching, this area is the
maximum area of the satellite, with solar panels deployed (𝑆 = 0.191 𝑚& ).
In that way, the force due to the solar pressure over the satellite is
AB
𝐹= 𝑆 1 + 𝑞 cos (𝑖) ……….. (2)
C

Where 𝐹J is the solar constant (1.367 W/m& ), c is the speed of light, q is the reflectance factor
(𝑞~0.6) and i is the angle of incidence of the Sun (worst case: 𝑖 = 0).
In order to evaluate the torque, the distance between the center of pressure and the mass center is
needed. As a first approaching, the center of solar pressure was situated 5 centimeters away from
the mass center.

The torque obtained is ~𝟕 · 𝟏𝟎6𝟏𝟏 Nm.

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Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

4.1.3 AERODYNAMIC DRAG

In low Earth orbits the air density is small but not null. Furthermore, the center pressure is usually
not aligned with the center of mass and this fact will produce torque acting on the spacecraft.
In this study, the air density at the orbit height is given as 𝜌~5 · 106T& kg/m$ .
The drag force can be estimated as F = 0.5 ρCZ SV & where 𝐶^ is the drag coefficient (𝐶^ ~2.5) S is
the surface and V the orbit velocity. The torque is estimated as 𝑇_ = 𝐹 𝑐a_ − 𝑐" where 𝑐a_ is the
center of pressure, which was supposed 5 centimeters away from the center of mass.

Then, the value of the torque obtained is 𝑻𝒂 ~𝟑 · 𝟏𝟎6𝟔 which is the most significant.
Next table summarizes the three disturbance torques token into account.

Torque Order of magnitude

Gravity gradient 106~
Solar pressure radiation 7 · 106TT
Atmospheric drag 3 · 106•

4.2 MANEUVER
Along this chapter the performance of the ADCS system is going to be analyzed in order to assure that a
reorientation maneuver is feasible as well as to estimate the time between desaturations of the wheels.

4.2.1 REORIENTATION MANEUVER

A 90 degrees maneuver is taken into account as a model of maneuver to estimate how much time is
needed to do it. The maneuver is carried out by accelerating the wheels up to its maximum speed.
After, the satellite is allowed drift-moving and then the wheels are stopped.
fghi
The following expression allows estimate the time t = (angle of maneuver) = 24 s.
jklmmn

Where 𝐼o_p is the maximum momentum of inertia of the satellite (worst case) and ℎrsttu is the
momentum storage of the wheel.
In order to calculate the angular speed of the satellite during the maneuver, the inertia moment of
the wheel should be calculated as the ratio between the maximum momentum storage and the
vwxyyz
maximum angular speed. In that way, (angular speed)satellite= · (angular speed)wheel = 3.8
v{|}
deg/s.

4.2.2 TIME BETWEEN DESATURATION

An important parameter of the ADCS system is the time between desaturation of the reactions
wheels. After this time using magneto-torques to desaturate wheels is mandatory. This time can be
estimated integrating Angular momentum equation. The following expression allows estimating this
parameter.

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Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

𝑑𝜔
𝑇=𝐼
𝑑𝑡
I was supposed constant inertia. Also the torque was supposed maximum and constant (worst
case).
𝐼 · 𝜔„_…†‡_…ˆ‰Š
𝛥𝑡 =
𝑇
The value obtained is about 34 minutes.

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Spacecraft Design SPEC ADCS GROUP

CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION

The ADCS of the 6U CubeSat was successfully worked on and finalized about. Values for parameters
such as detumbling, rotation maneuvers, stabilization etc. were calculated and decided. Calculated
values were found to be within acceptable ranges and thereafter, individual components with
satisfactory value ranges satisfying them were searched for. Components manufactured by various
companies as well as vendors were analyzed to satisfy the calculations as well as keeping in mind
the cost factor. Finally, as mentioned in the report, they were finalized and decided upon. It can be
said that the values obtained for the ADCS in our mission are acceptable. Depending on these
values, we can say that the attitude determination and control of the 6U CubeSat can be near-
efficiently carried out.

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