AERO9610 – The Space Segment

Week 7-2: Attitude Control

 Summary
In this lecture, we will learn
• Attitude Control Actuators
• Attitude Control Principles
• CubeSat Control Example

2
2
 Closed-loop Control System

All closed-loop control systems have the same basic elements.

• The desired state is one input to the controller.
• It compares this state to the actual state from the sensors.
• By comparing the difference, it decides on specific commands to send to the actuators.
• Actuator changes, along with environmental inputs, affect the final output of the plant.
• System sensors detect and measure this output.

3 https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/III.4.3.1_Space_Vehicle_Control_Systems.pdf
 Attitude Control Actuators
Passive Actuators

• Gravity gradient stabilisation

• Spin stabilisation
• Dampers
• Aerodynamic and solar pressure stabilisation

Active Actuators

• Reaction wheels
• Momentum wheels
• Control moment gyros
• Magnetorquers
• Thrusters
 Gravity Gradient Stabilisation
• Gravity-gradient attitude control offers a
simple, reliable, inexhaustible system with
no moving parts.
• Spinning in the local vertical direction
- Achieved with mass on extended boom
- Small control torques
- Damping
• Drawbacks
- No inherent yaw stability, often pair with a Nonlinear Attitude Control for a 6U CubeSat with a
momentum wheel Flexible, Deployable Boom
Credit: Jared Walker
- Downward pointing accuracy is only 1-3°
- Only effective in low-Earth orbit

5
 Spin Stabilisation
• Gyroscopic stiffness: spin makes them more stable and resistant to
outside torques. The faster they spin, the more stable they become.
This stability is referred to as an object’s gyroscopic stiffness.
• A spin-stabilised spacecraft takes advantage of the conservation of
angular momentum to maintain a constant inertial orientation of
one of its axes.
- Torque-free S/C will maintain its orientation in space
- Useful during the launch

6
 Spin Stabilisation
• Spin stabilisation is not much good for earth pointing,
so dual-spin systems is introduced.
- An outer cylinder that is spinning at a high rate, providing
overall spacecraft stability Spin stabilised spacecraft have fixed pointing with
- An inner cylinder called the “de-spun” section respect to inertial space
Dual-spinning spacecraft attitude control
- Spinning at a rate to keep antenna and sensors pointed at of MIT MicroMAS-2A CubeSat
Earth.
• Popular for large, geosynchronous, communication
spacecraft.

7
 Damper
• A damper is a device that changes angular momentum by absorbing
energy.
- using friction or other means to convert angular-momentum energy into other
forms
- used in combination with others for a complete system

A ball inside a circular tube filled with a viscous fluid is one

type of damper. As the spacecraft rotates, the ball moves
through the fluid. The resistance produces heat, dissipating the
angular motion.

A Simple Spacecraft Damper

8
 Aerodynamic and Solar Radiation Stabilisation
• Use aerodynamic or solar pressure to change attitude
• Requires deployable/rotating panels/booms/structures
• Example: MAGSAT
- LEO, uses a trim boom for aerodynamic forces MAGSAT

• Example: Marnier 10
- Primary ADC control failed
- Corrected by using solar pressure on solar arrays

Mariner 10

9
 Reaction Wheels
• Reaction wheels rely on the principle of momentum
exchange.
• Consist of a flywheel connected to a motor that is
attached to the spacecraft. The motor generates a
torque spinning the wheel in one direction and the [1] 3-axis reaction wheel + one off axis
spacecraft in the other.
• Momentum is transferred between the flywheel and
the rest of the spacecraft.
• Wheels will eventually saturate and need to be
unloaded (momentum dump)
[2] Reaction wheel

[1] https://www.microcontrollertips.com/reaction-wheels-ensure-satellites-maintain-the-right-attitude-part-1-faq/
10 [2] Figure 12.1, Michael Paluszek, et al., Spacecraft Attitude and Orbit Control Volume 2, 4th Edition
 Momentum Wheels
• Vary speed of a spinning mass to impart torque on to the S/C
• Requires momentum dump when rpm exceeds design limit
• Gyroscopic stability
- Therefore a smaller & slower response
• Dual Spin S/C = single-axis momentum wheel
• Momentum wheels are typically larger and heavier

3 mNms This wheel is so tiny that 3 wheels can be carried in a

1U Cubesat. A 4-wheel pyramid configuration is also possible.
Credit: Rocketlab

11
Control Moment Gyro
• Control moment gyro (CMG) consists of a
spinning wheel on a gimbaled platform.
• Provide bigger torques and momentum
storage capability than reaction wheels.
• A double gimbal CMG can control two
degrees of freedom.
• So, at least two CMGs are needed for 3-
axis control

[1] Control moment gyro

[1] https://www.researchgate.net/figure/FIGURE-S1-Control-moment-gyroscope-CMG-A-CMG-consists-of-a-a-rotor-spinning-at-a_fig1_224594118
 Magnetic Torquer (Magnetorquer)
•Magnetic torquers generate torque through the interaction
with the Earth’s magnetic field.

Where is the magnetic field and is the dipole of the torquer.

•For an air coil, the dipole magnitude is:

Where is the number of turns of the coil, is the current in the wire, is the
area enclosed by the coil. The dipole direction is determined by the
direction of the current flowing through the coil (right-hand rule).

•Example: NanoAvionics SatBus MTQ magnetorquer

- 2 magnetorquer rods with soft magnetic cores and 1 air torquer
coil
- providing flexibility and redundancy in controlling the Magnetorquers “SatBus MTQ”, NanoAvionics
spacecraft's orientation
[1] https://satsearch.co/products/meisei-electric-magnetic-torquer
13
 Design an Air Coil Magnetorquer
SCT DesignMagneitcTorquer: Design an air coil magnetic torquer for a CubeSat. The wire is wrapped
around the CubeSat frame.
• Bdipole: Computes the geocentric magnetic field based on a tilted dipole model
• AirCoreTorquerModel: Get vertices and faces for an air core magnetic torquer CAD component
%% Requirements
torque = 0.25e-6*10; % Nm
p = 0.05; % power in W
aWG = 36; % American Wire Gauge

Variable Value Unit

Number of turns 136 -
0.01235
Torque 2.5
Dipole 0.0758 ampere-turns per square meter ()
Wire Gauge 36 American Wire Gauge ()
Power 0.05
Voltage 2.68
Current 0.01865 Air Core Magnetorquer
14
 Thrusters
• Propellant
- Bi-propellant
- Mono-propellant
- Cold gas
• Easy, effective, large control levels possible
• Problems
- Prone to failure, require redundancy, non-
proportional control (On/Off), Use a consumable
AEOLOS 200mN Cold Gas Thruster

15
 Attitude Control - Summary
Actuators Accuracy, deg
Gravity gradient 1-3

Magnetic 0.02–0.03

Spin-stabilised 0.1

Thrusters 0.1

Control Moment Gyros 0.03

Reaction Wheels 0.01

16 LSN 28, USAFA Astronautics & Space Ops, Attitude Determination & Control Subsystem (ADCS)
 Control Principles
• The controller’s job is to generate commands for the actuators to control the
satellite point into the right direction based on mission requirements for
accuracy and sensor information.
• The controller keeps track of
- What’s happening now
- What may happen in the future
- What happened in the past

17 Space Vehicle Control Systems via https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/III.4.3.1_Space_Vehicle_Control_Systems.pdf

 Proportional Control
Knowing what’s happening now is pretty easy—the controller simply
asks the sensors to find the current attitude.

• Proportional control involves comparing the

current attitude measured by sensors to the desired
attitude.
- The difference between the measured and desired
attitude forms the error signal.
- The controller steers the system in the direction of the
proper orientation based on the error signal.
- If the attitude is, for example, 10° off, the controller
commands a 10° change.

Space Vehicle Control Systems via https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/III.4.3.1_Space_Vehicle_Control_Systems.pdf

https://circuitdigest.com/article/what-is-pid-controller-working-structure-applications
18
 Derivative Control
Predicting what’s going to happen and remembering what’s
happened in the past can be just as important.

• Derivative control involves monitoring the rate of

change or "speed" of attitude in addition to the
current attitude.
- It calculates the derivative of the attitude to determine
how fast the attitude is changing over time.
• It complements proportional control and is
essential in closed-loop control systems for precise
attitude control.

Space Vehicle Control Systems via https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/III.4.3.1_Space_Vehicle_Control_Systems.pdf

https://circuitdigest.com/article/what-is-pid-controller-working-structure-applications
19
 Integral Control
Sometimes we can be more precise by keeping track of how close
we’re getting to the desired result.

• Integral control involves monitoring the angular

difference between the measured and desired
attitude, i.e., , and sums it over time.
- This running sum provides information about the
accumulated error over time, even when ∆θ is zero.
• Integral control helps the controller compensate for
disturbance torques and maintain stability in a
"steady-state" mode.

Space Vehicle Control Systems via https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/III.4.3.1_Space_Vehicle_Control_Systems.pdf

https://circuitdigest.com/article/what-is-pid-controller-working-structure-applications
20
 PID Control
• Proportional, integration and derivative
• Popular, flexible control scheme
• Can achieve good trade-offs between dynamical response and steady-
state behaviour

21
 3U CubeSat Control System
Requirements The CubeSat is Earth pointing. The control requirements are to acquire the
Earth and then maintain pointing.
Actuator and sensor selection
• Magnetic torquers;
• Fisheye Earth sensor;
• Magnetometer;
• Reaction wheels.

CubeSat concept of operations. Damping of rates is done at separation. The

spacecraft deploys its solar wings, then reorients.

22 Fig. 25.3, Michael Paluszek, ADCS - Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control, 2023
 3U CubeSat Structure

3U CubeSat with deployable

solar wings (30 cm by 10 cm).
The wings are body fixed. The
orthogonal torquers and Earth
sensor are on the nadir deck. The
magnetometer is on the zenith
deck.

Fig. 25.4, Michael Paluszek, ADCS - Spacecraft Attitude

Determination and Control, 2023
23
 3U CubeSat Control System

• The reaction wheels provide 3-axis

control.
• The magnetic torquers provide
momentum unloading. They can also
be used for backup attitude control.

Fig 25.5, Michael Paluszek, ADCS - Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control, 2023
24
 Take-aways
In this lecture, we have to
• Understand the concept of a closed-loop control system.
• Understand common passive satellite attitude control methods, e.g., spin
stabilisation and gravity gradient control.
• Understand common active satellite attitude control actuators, e.g., magnetorquer.

• Understand the principle of PID control.

25