Design of attitude determination and control system using microstrip magnetorquer for nanosatellite

Abstract

Magnetorquer is a type of active control used on nanosatellite. It can be made by using microstrip line with a circular spiral patch. In previous research, the magnetorquer system was designed by using a coil of wire wrapped around the cross-section of conductor. The magnetic field is generated by electrifying the coil of wire. The torque is produced when the magnetic field generated from magnetorquer interacts with the Earth's magnetic field. The torque can be controlled to change nanosatellite orientation in its orbit. In this paper, the magnetorquer is designed with 5 V of voltage consumption and 0.5-1 A of current consumption. By supplying the magnetorquer with various amount of current, the minimum and maximum values of magnetic field are 0.811 μT and 1.596 μT respectively.