Low-cost Attitude Determination and Control System Using Reaction Wheels and Star Tracker

Abstract

In this paper, the development of a performant and accurate Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) for Cubesats is presented. On top of using magnetometers and gyroscopes, this ADCS will comprise a Star Tracker with novel star tracking algorithms. The Star Tracker will give the CubeSat highly accurate attitude knowledge. The star tracking algorithms are significantly more robust and faster than existing algorithms. To control the attitude, the ADCS uses three reaction wheels with the highest momentum capacity over weight ratio of all existing CubeSat reaction wheels. The characteristics of this ADCS will give the CubeSat high manoeuvrability and will allow to perform a formation flying mission using differential drag.status: publishe