Satellite attitude control system for demonstration purposes

Abstract

The DLR Institute of Space Systems located in Bremen commissioned a new laboratory for experiments concerning the attitude control of spacecrafts. The laboratory was named Facility for Attitude Control Experiments (FACE), and the necessary equipment and hardware was acquired. The subject of this diploma thesis is bringing the new facility into service and demonstrating its capabilities by means of realistic example experiments inspired by actual space missions. The main component of the facility is an air bearing table for simulating zero gravity with respect to the rotational degrees of freedom. An experimental satellite mounted onto the table is able to rotate around all its major axes with only minimal friction between the air bearing parts. Available hardware is used to build an attitude control system for the inertial measurement and adjustment of the satellite’s attitude. For this, the on-board communication between the sensors, the actuators, and the on-board computer are implemented and put into operation. For processing the sensor signals and commanding the actuators, reusable software interfaces are designed for user-friendly interaction within the MATLAB™/Simulink™ development environment. A basic subsystem for attitude determination and attitude control is implemented with the developed instruments, demonstrating the overall design process employed for the FACE.