High spin rate magnetic controller for nanosatellites

Abstract This paper presents a study of a high rate closed-loop spin controller that uses only electromagnetic coils as actuators. The controller is able to perform spin rate control and simultaneously align the spin axis with the Earth's inertial reference frame. It is implemented, optimised and simulated for a 1-unit CubeSat ESTCube-1 to fulfil its mission requirements: spin the satellite up to 360 deg s −1 around the z -axis and align its spin axis with the Earth's polar axis with a pointing error of less than 3°. The attitude of the satellite is determined using a magnetic field vector, a Sun vector and angular velocity. It is estimated using an Unscented Kalman Filter and controlled using three electromagnetic coils. The algorithm is tested in a simulation environment that includes models of space environment and environmental disturbances, sensor and actuator emulation, attitude estimation, and a model to simulate the time delay caused by on-board calculations. In addition to the normal operation mode, analyses of reduced satellite functionality are performed: significant errors of attitude estimation due to non-operational Sun sensors; and limited actuator functionality due to two non-operational coils. A hardware-in-the-loop test is also performed to verify on-board software.