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Low-Cost Orientation Determination System for CubeSat Based Solely on Solar and Magnetic Sensors

CubeSats require accurate determination of their orientation relative to the Sun, Earth, and other celestial bodies to operate successfully and collect scientific data. This paper presents an orientation system based on solar and magnetic sensors that offers a cost-effective and reliable solution fo...

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Autores principales: Nurgizat, Yerkebulan, Ayazbay, Abu-Alim, Galayko, Dimitri, Balbayev, Gani, Alipbayev, Kuanysh
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10385310/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37514682
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s23146388
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author Nurgizat, Yerkebulan
Ayazbay, Abu-Alim
Galayko, Dimitri
Balbayev, Gani
Alipbayev, Kuanysh
author_facet Nurgizat, Yerkebulan
Ayazbay, Abu-Alim
Galayko, Dimitri
Balbayev, Gani
Alipbayev, Kuanysh
author_sort Nurgizat, Yerkebulan
collection PubMed
description CubeSats require accurate determination of their orientation relative to the Sun, Earth, and other celestial bodies to operate successfully and collect scientific data. This paper presents an orientation system based on solar and magnetic sensors that offers a cost-effective and reliable solution for CubeSat navigation. Solar sensors analyze the illumination on each face to measure the satellite’s orientation relative to the Sun, while magnetic sensors determine the Earth’s magnetic field vector in the satellite’s reference frame. By combining the measured data with the known ephemeris of the satellite, the satellite–Sun vector and the magnetic field orientation can be reconstructed. The orientation is expressed using quaternions, representing the rotation from the internal reference system of the satellite to the selected reference system. The proposed system demonstrates the ability to accurately determine the orientation of a CubeSat using only two sensors, making it suitable for installations where more complex and expensive instruments are impractical. Additionally, the paper presents a mathematical model of a low-cost CubeSat orientation system and a hardware implementation of the sensor. The technology, using solar and magnetic sensors, provides a reliable and affordable solution for CubeSat navigation, supporting the increasing sophistication of miniature payloads and enabling accurate satellite positioning in space missions.
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spelling pubmed-103853102023-07-30 Low-Cost Orientation Determination System for CubeSat Based Solely on Solar and Magnetic Sensors Nurgizat, Yerkebulan Ayazbay, Abu-Alim Galayko, Dimitri Balbayev, Gani Alipbayev, Kuanysh Sensors (Basel) Article CubeSats require accurate determination of their orientation relative to the Sun, Earth, and other celestial bodies to operate successfully and collect scientific data. This paper presents an orientation system based on solar and magnetic sensors that offers a cost-effective and reliable solution for CubeSat navigation. Solar sensors analyze the illumination on each face to measure the satellite’s orientation relative to the Sun, while magnetic sensors determine the Earth’s magnetic field vector in the satellite’s reference frame. By combining the measured data with the known ephemeris of the satellite, the satellite–Sun vector and the magnetic field orientation can be reconstructed. The orientation is expressed using quaternions, representing the rotation from the internal reference system of the satellite to the selected reference system. The proposed system demonstrates the ability to accurately determine the orientation of a CubeSat using only two sensors, making it suitable for installations where more complex and expensive instruments are impractical. Additionally, the paper presents a mathematical model of a low-cost CubeSat orientation system and a hardware implementation of the sensor. The technology, using solar and magnetic sensors, provides a reliable and affordable solution for CubeSat navigation, supporting the increasing sophistication of miniature payloads and enabling accurate satellite positioning in space missions. MDPI 2023-07-14 /pmc/articles/PMC10385310/ /pubmed/37514682 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s23146388 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Nurgizat, Yerkebulan
Ayazbay, Abu-Alim
Galayko, Dimitri
Balbayev, Gani
Alipbayev, Kuanysh
Low-Cost Orientation Determination System for CubeSat Based Solely on Solar and Magnetic Sensors
title Low-Cost Orientation Determination System for CubeSat Based Solely on Solar and Magnetic Sensors
title_full Low-Cost Orientation Determination System for CubeSat Based Solely on Solar and Magnetic Sensors
title_fullStr Low-Cost Orientation Determination System for CubeSat Based Solely on Solar and Magnetic Sensors
title_full_unstemmed Low-Cost Orientation Determination System for CubeSat Based Solely on Solar and Magnetic Sensors
title_short Low-Cost Orientation Determination System for CubeSat Based Solely on Solar and Magnetic Sensors
title_sort low-cost orientation determination system for cubesat based solely on solar and magnetic sensors
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10385310/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37514682
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s23146388
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