A Study on Sun Search and Pointing Strategy for Low-cost CubeSat

초록

This paper proposes Sun search and pointing methods considering the characteristics of Sun sensors and actuators of low-cost CubeSats. Sun pointing must be carried out to secure the amount of power needed for a stable operation of satellites. When low-cost CubeSats aim to track the Sun, there are restrictions such as 1) low-accuracy Sun sensors, 2) partial view of Sun sensor and 3) limited number of reaction wheels that can be mounted. Therefore, in this paper several cases are defined at which Sun sensor attachment configuration and Sun search maneuvers are proposed to search/acquire the Sun. The performance of Sun pointing algorithm is also compared according to the combination of actuators. In addition, Sun pointing performance according to the configuration of Sun sensors and actuators in various cases is compared. It is expected that this paper can contribute to the selection of type/configuration of attitude determination and control hardware and algorithms for the given system requirements and budgets.

키워드