Attitude control of a CubeSat in a circular orbit using magnetic actuators

Abstract

This paper deals with attitude tracking control of a spacecraft using magnetic actuators. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of magnetic actuators for the Attitude Control System (ACS) of a CubeSat in a low earth circular orbit. This investigation is achieved via a proposed control law (set point regulator) based on the well known (model independent) PD controller. To validate this objective, two (2) cases representing the attitude manoeuvre were considered using SCILAB application software. A numerical orbit propagator was used to mimic the said circular orbit. Simulation results are presented showing the performance of the proposed solution.