TY - GEN
T1 - Aerodynamic attitude stabilization for a ram-facing CubeSat
AU - Rawashdeh, Samir
AU - Jones, David
AU - Erb, Daniel
AU - Karam, Anthony
AU - Lumpp, James E.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - This paper describes the design, modeling, and analysis of an attitude control system for a ram-facing pico-class satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). A 3-U (30×10×10 cm3) CubeSat is designed to maintain one 10×10 cm2 face aligned with the velocity vector throughout the orbit. The solution presented implements deployable drag fins and resembles a shuttlecock design which is shown to be capable of providing passive stabilization for orbits below 500 km. A simplified Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is used to model the rarefied atmosphere and its interaction with the spacecraft body for a range of fin geometries. An attitude propagator is developed to observe the satellite's dynamic response and steady-state behavior considering perturbing torques due to gravity gradient and solar pressure. Stability characteristics and pointing errors are shown for altitudes ranging from 300 to 450 km with fin lengths from 2 to 30 cm at angles from 0 to 90 degrees.
AB - This paper describes the design, modeling, and analysis of an attitude control system for a ram-facing pico-class satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). A 3-U (30×10×10 cm3) CubeSat is designed to maintain one 10×10 cm2 face aligned with the velocity vector throughout the orbit. The solution presented implements deployable drag fins and resembles a shuttlecock design which is shown to be capable of providing passive stabilization for orbits below 500 km. A simplified Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is used to model the rarefied atmosphere and its interaction with the spacecraft body for a range of fin geometries. An attitude propagator is developed to observe the satellite's dynamic response and steady-state behavior considering perturbing torques due to gravity gradient and solar pressure. Stability characteristics and pointing errors are shown for altitudes ranging from 300 to 450 km with fin lengths from 2 to 30 cm at angles from 0 to 90 degrees.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/80053410136
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/80053410136#tab=citedBy
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:80053410136
SN - 9780877035534
T3 - Advances in the Astronautical Sciences
SP - 583
EP - 595
BT - Guidance and Control 2009 - Advances in the Astronautical Sciences
T2 - 32nd Annual AAS Rocky Mountain Guidance and Control Conference
Y2 - 30 January 2009 through 4 February 2009
ER -