AERO9610 – The Space Segment

Week 7-1: Attitude Dynamics and

Determination
 Summary
In this lecture, we will learn
• Attitude Dynamics
• Pointing Accuracy and Budget
• External Disturbances
• Attitude Determination Sensors

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2
 Attitude Determination and Control
• Most space missions require the satellite to be able to point in specific
directions to fulfil the objectives of the mission
- Payload needs (e.g. imaging)
- Communications
- Solar arrays

• There are many factors that make it a challenge to determine the

spacecraft attitude:
- Frame of reference difficult to establish
- Disturbance torques: solar radiation; gravitational gradient; aerodynamic; magnetic; internal
mass re-distributions; thruster firing; etc.
Attitud
e
Determ
ination
&
Contro
l
System
Credit: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernd Dachwald, Aerospace Technology
Department Hohenstaufenallee 6, 52064 Aachen, Germany
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 Attitude Control Design

Software Engineer Task

ACS Control Design Task
ACS System Engineer Task
Propulsion Engineer Task

Spacecraft control-system design flow

Michael Paluszek ADCS - Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control, 2023

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 Attitude Control Requirements
Typical direct mission requirements are for:
Direct requirements
• Pointing accuracy: how tightly the spacecraft points at its target.
• Pointing knowledge: how well you know the attitude error
• Jitter;
• Lifetime;
• Reliability;
• Redundancy.
Indirect (or derived) requirements
• Power;
• Thermal;
• Radiation hardness;
• Radio-frequency emission sensitivity;
• Induced noise (such as from an unbalanced momentum wheel);
• Computational loading (i.e., how many floating-point operations you can use per control cycle).

Michael Paluszek ADCS - Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control, 2023

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 Attitude Determination Control
•Frame of reference: the body frame and inertial frame
- Body frame: attached to satellite and moving with it.
- Inertial frame: fixed in space and remains stationary relative to stars. It
provides an absolute reference for satellite attitude.
•Classical Euler angles in the body frame: roll, pitch and
yaw

Body Frame
Describing Attitude. We describe space-vehicle attitude in terms of roll, pitch,
and yaw angles around the axes of the body frame.

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 Rotational Motion - Kinematics
Given two frames, the orientation of one frame with respect to
the other can be defined in a number of ways.
• Euler angles
• Transformation matrices
- An orthonormal matrix that transforms a vector measured
in one frame to another frame.
- A matrix whose inverse equals its transpose and for
which each column or row is a unit vector.
• Quaternions

The vector orientation and length do not change, but its , and
components change depending on which frame is used to measure it.

Dual Frame Vector Diagram

[1] Chapter 8.2, Michael Paluszek, et al., Spacecraft Attitude and Orbit Control Volume 2, 4th Edition

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 3-1-3 Euler Angle Set
A 3-1-3 classical Euler angle sequence is shown in the diagram.
• The first rotation () is about the 3-axis (Z/z1-axis) of both the inertial and body frames
• The second () is about the 1-axis (x1-axis) of the body frame
• The third () is about the 3-axis (z2-axis) of the body frame.

[1] Chapter 11, Howard D. Curtis, Orbital Mechanics for

Engineering Students, 4th Edition
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 Transformation Matrix
Each rotation can be used to define a transformation matrix (direction cosine matrix) and the
product of the three gives the overall transformation matrix.

1-2-3 sequence:

Twelve unique meaningful ordered sequences of rotations, or twelve Euler angle conventions:
XYX, XYZ, XZX, XZY, YXY, YXZ, YZX, YZY, ZXY, ZXZ, ZYX, ZYZ. Each set of three
rotations is capable of pointing a unit vector in any orientation.
[1] Chapter 8.2, Michael Paluszek, et al., Spacecraft Attitude and Orbit Control Volume 2, 4th Edition

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 Transformation Matrix
If is the vector in the body frame, and is the vector as measured in
the inertial frame, the two are related by

Note that

The transformation matrix is defined as

where each row is the unit vector of the axis of the body () frame as
measured in the inertial () frame.

[1] Chapter 8.2, Michael Paluszek, et al., Spacecraft Attitude and Orbit Control Volume 2, 4th Edition

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 Euler Angles
• Easily to visualise
• Natural choice for control system
- Actuation/gyroscopes/etc.
• Some challenges:
- Can be computationally expensive
- Suffer from ‘Gimbal lock’
• Alternative: Quaternions

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 Gimbal Lock

• Normal situation: the three gimbals are independent

• Gimbal lock: two out of the three gimbals are in the same plane, one degree of freedom is lost
- This means that changes to yaw (green) and roll (blue) apply the same rotation shown in Fig. (b).

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 Math Behind the Gimbal Lock

Altering two inputs and has the same effect on the output matrix.

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 Quaternions
A quaternion is a convenient way of representing the orientation.
• No singularity like Euler angles
• Efficient propagation of the orientation
• quaternion multiplication involves simple scalar and vector products
• Euler angles typically requires trigonometric functions
The quaternion is represented by a four row-vector

• The first notation: no distinction between the four elements

• The second notation: a scalar and 3-vector part
• The third form: any arbitrary rotation about any number of axes can
be reduced to a single rotation about a fixed axis (theorem of Euler)

Quaternion Diagram

Chapter 7.4, Michael Paluszek, et al., Spacecraft Attitude and Orbit Control Volume 2, 4th Edition

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 Comparison of Attitude Representations
Method Advantages Disadvantages Common use
Euler angles No redundant parameters Singularities Analytical study
(roll, pitch, Clear physical interpretation Trigonometric functions Onboard control of three-
yaw) No convenient product rule axis spacecraft
Direction No singularities Six redundant parameters To transform vectors from
cosine No trigonometric functions Many trigonometric one reference frame to
matrix (small angles only) functions another
Good physical representation
Convenient product rule
Quaternions No singularities One redundant parameter Onboard control of three-axis
No trigonometric functions No physical meaning spacecraft
Convenient product rule

Table , Charles Brown, Elements of Spacecraft Design

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 Fundamentals of Attitude Dynamics
• An object’s angular momentum, (), depends on both its
moment of inertia, (), and its angular velocity, ()

• The magnitude of an applied torque depends on the force ()

and distance () over which it is applied. The direction of torque
is found using the right-hand rule. Skater changing rotational speed

• If you apply a torque, , to an object with a given mass moment

of inertia, the object will experience angular acceleration, (),
spinning faster and faster the longer the torque is applied.

Torque by right-hand rule

Space Vehicle Control Systems via https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/III.4.3.1_Space_Vehicle_Control_Systems.pdf

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 Fundamentals of Attitude Dynamics
A torque applied to a spacecraft (or any object for that matter) causes an angular acceleration.
Over time, this acceleration increases angular velocity, changing its attitude.

Torque applied to a spinning disk

• Precession.
• tends to move toward .
• Precession axis follows the right-hand rule.
• Knowing how a spacecraft gains angular velocity and
precesses helps us determine how to apply forces to
adjust its attitude.

18 Space Vehicle Control Systems via https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/III.4.3.1_Space_Vehicle_Control_Systems.pdf

 Attitude Dynamics
For a rigid body, the kinematic equation is
𝒒
˙ = 𝑓 (𝒒 , 𝝎 )
where is the spacecraft’s attitude quaternion, is the body rates (or angular velocity).

The dynamical equation follows the Euler’s equation

• The inertia matrix is a constant when the spacecraft is rigid. It is positive-definite-symmetric.

• is the torque defined in the inertial frame.
• is angular rate of the body with respect to the inertial frame measured in the body frame.
• For some satellite missions, the body frame is aligning with the local vertical and local horizontal
frame (LVLH).

Chapter 8.2, Michael Paluszek, et al., Spacecraft Attitude and Orbit Control Volume 2, 4th Edition

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 Example - LVLH as the Body Frame

Box in LVLH Reference Position Box Pitched -45 deg

Steven Rickman, https://tfaws.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/Rickman-Presentation.pdf

Images created using: Thermal Desktop®by Cullimore and Ring Technologies, Inc.
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 Momentum of Satellite
• Decomposed into translational part (linear momentum) and rotational part (angular
momentum)

• For the rigid body:

Comoving xyz frame used to compute the

moments of inertia.

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 Inertia Matrix
• Real and Symmetric

[ ]
𝐼 11 𝐼 12 𝐼1 3
𝐈= 𝐼 𝐼2 2
Moments of inertia: positive
𝐼 23
12
𝐼 𝐼3 2 Products of inertia: negative
𝐼 33
31

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 Principal Axes
• There always exists one coordinate system for which:
- Products of Inertia are all 0
- Matrix is diagonal
- Corresponding coordinates = Principal Axes
• Symmetry axes → pure rotations

[ ]
𝐼1 0 0
𝐈= 0 𝐼2 0 moments of inertia: positive
Principal
0 0 𝐼3

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 Principal Moments of Inertia
• Find by matrix diagonalisation (determinant calculation)

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 Example - Principal MoI
• Inertia matrix

• Form the characteristic equation and solve

• Eigenvalues are the principal moments of inertia:

• Using Matlab function: [eig_vec, eig_val] = eig(I)

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 Example
• A rigid body has angular velocity in body coordinates. The inertia matrix
is

(a) What is the angular momentum of the body about its centre of mass?
(b) What are the principal moments of inertia?

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 Torque
• Force applied away from the centre of mass and with a component
perpendicular to the line drawn towards the centre of mass will result in
a torque causing a rotation about the centre of mass
• Recall: 𝑻 = 𝑖 𝐫 𝑖 × 𝑭 𝑖

• Skew-symmetric matrix:

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 Example
Satellite , a thruster having a thrust of ,
represented by red arrows, its position represented
by green arrows. Find the torque in each case.

[ ][ ][ ]
1 .5 0 0
𝑻 𝐴 =𝒓 𝐴 × 𝑭 𝐴 = 0 × 10 = 0 ( N ∙ m )
0 0 15

[ ][ ][ ]
1.5 0 0
𝑻 𝐵=𝒓 𝐵 × 𝑭 𝐵 = − 1 × 10 = 0 ( N ∙ m )
0 0 15
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 Angular Momentum Rate
• Rate of change of angular momentum, in the inertial frame, is equal to
the net torque on the body

where

for a rigid body.

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 Euler Equations of Motion
• So:

• Euler Equations of Motion in the format of angular accelerations

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 Example - Angular Acceleration
Find angular acceleration of a rigid body under the influence of an external
torque

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 Example

Alternative: Using Matlab

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 Example - Parallelepiped Satellite
A satellite, with zero initial angular velocity, has four 3-N thrusters to control its rotation about its X axis. The satellite
dimensions are m, as shown in Figure 1. The centre of mass (represented by a black dot at the origin of the XYZ coordinate
frame in Figure Q1.1) is located at the geometric centre of the parallelepiped spacecraft. The moment of inertia about the X
axis is 1000 , while the moments of inertia about the Y and Z axes are both 1500 . Due to a valve malfunction, thruster T3 is
out of order. Find:
a) The positions of T1, T2 and T4 and their respective torques, and hence the total torque generated (all in vector notation).
b) The rate of change in angular velocity about each axis.

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 Example - Parallelepiped Satellite
A satellite, with zero initial angular velocity, has four 3-N thrusters to control its rotation about its X axis.
The satellite dimensions are m, as shown in Figure 1. The centre of mass (represented by a black dot at
the origin of the XYZ coordinate frame in Figure Q1.1) is located at the geometric centre of the
parallelepiped spacecraft. The moment of inertia about the X axis is 1000 , while the moments of inertia
about the Y and Z axes are both 1500 . Due to a valve malfunction, thruster T3 is out of order. Find:
a) The positions of T1, T2 and T4 and their respective torques, and hence the total torque generated (all
in vector notation).

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 Example - Parallelepiped Satellite
A satellite, with zero initial angular velocity, has four 3-N thrusters to control its rotation about its
X axis. The satellite dimensions are m, as shown in Figure 1. The centre of mass (represented by a
black dot at the origin of the XYZ coordinate frame in Figure Q1.1) is located at the geometric
centre of the parallelepiped spacecraft. The moment of inertia about the X axis is 1000 , while the
moments of inertia about the Y and Z axes are both 1500 . Due to a valve malfunction, thruster T3
is out of order. Find:
b) The rate of change in angular velocity about each axis.

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 Pointing Accuracy
To get a better feel for what we mean by attitude or pointing accuracy, assume
the target is about the size of a 25-cm dinner plate. We know the pointing
accuracy, , and the distance to the target, . To find the apparent diameter of the
target we can hit, , we use

where
= approximate diameter of target (m)
= distance to target (m)
= pointing accuracy (rad)

To point at a target the size of a dinner plate (25 The pointing accuracy needs to be...
cm diameter) at this distance...
1.4 m 10°
14 m 1°
140 m 0.1°
1400 m 0.01°
36 Space Vehicle Control Systems 4.3.1, https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/III.4.3.1_Space_Vehicle_Control_Systems.pdf
 Pointing Requirements & budgeting

Typical pointing accuracy

requirements:
• Solar array: 4 to 10 deg;
• High-gain antenna: 0.1 to 0.5 deg;
• Optics, telescopes, and cameras: 0.001
to 0.1 deg.

Pointing error budgeting and analysis steps as in EPPE Handbook

Ott T., et al., Pointing budgeting using the ESA Pointing Error Engineering Handbook and Tool: benefits and limitations, 2014
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 Example - Artemis CubeSat Pointing Budget
Axis to Align and
Subsystem Component Target Frame of Axis Accuracy Precision Function
Hawaii, (+) Z Axis pointing to 48.8 deg (FOV 4 deg (angular
Payload Camera Earth Earth Nadir camera) resolution of target) Needs Pointing
Ground (-) Z Axis pointing to
Transmitter (TX) Station Earth Nadir 18 deg Needs Pointing
Ground (-) Z Axis pointing to
Receiver (RX) Station Earth Nadir 18 deg Needs Pointing
COMMs Deployment NA NA NA NA NA
OBC NA NA NA NA NA
ISC NA NA NA NA NA
OBC OBC NA NA NA NA NA
Gyroscope NA NA 0.004375 deg/s 0.0004375 degrees/s Provides Estimation
Magnetometer NA NA 1 Gauss 0.0041 Gauss Provides Estimation
Accelerometer NA NA 0.00059841 m/s^2 0.000059841 m/s^2 Provides Estimation
GPS NA NA 2.5 m Provides Estimation
Sun Sensor x4 NA NA Provides Estimation
ADCS Embedded Torque Coils NA NA 0 deg/s 0.1 deg/s Provides Control
Heater NA NA NA NA NA
Thermal Thermal Sensors x5 NA NA NA NA NA
Battery Board NA NA NA NA NA
Distribution Unit NA NA NA NA NA
(+,-) X or Y Axis of
Spacecraft to be aligned Needs Spin Preference or
EPS Solar Panels Sun with Sun 45 45 Pointing

Artemis CubeSat Pointing Budget, credit: Frances Zhu

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 Disturbances to Spacecraft Attitude
Several things disturb the attitude of a spacecraft in orbit:

• Aerodynamic torques
• Gravity-gradient torques
• Solar radiation torques
• Magnetic torque
• Other disturbance torques

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 Aerodynamic Torques
• Due to motion of the satellite through the atmosphere
• Effect reduces with altitude
- Typically significant below 800km orbital altitude
- Comparable to gravity-gradient torques
• Dependent on the area of the satellite perpendicular to the velocity
vector

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 Aerodynamic Torques

where
• is complex, dependent on the S/C attitude and mass distribution
•ρ is the atmospheric mass density,
• the the area of the satellite perpendicular to the velocity vector,
•at first approximation is typically 1.5-2.0

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 Gravity-Gradient Torques
• Gravitational field drops as
• Larger gravitational force on the S/C nadir-side
• Tends to align the S/C on the long axis (local
vertical)

where and refer to the roll (about the x-axis) and pitch (about
the y-axis) angles, respectively, using the aircraft axis Gravity-gradient Torque. The slight
difference in gravitational force between
convention the upper and lower part of a spacecraft
will tend to rotate the spacecraft to
vertical, with its long axis pointed to
Earth. Credit: NASA

42 Space Vehicle Control Systems via https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/III.4.3.1_Space_Vehicle_Control_Systems.pdf

 Solar Radiation Pressure Torque
The solar torque on the spacecraft is the sum of all forces on all
elemental surfaces times the radius from the centroid of the
surface to the spacecraft centre of mass.

= solar torque on the spacecraft caused by a surface ,

= area of surface projected to sun line normal,
= distance from the centroid of the surface to the centre of mass of the
spacecraft,
= incident solar radiation,
= speed of light,
Schematic of solar sail system
= reflectance factor between 0 and 1, unitless.
• Spacecraft bodies tend to be reflectors; ;
• Solar panels tend to be absorbers, ;

Ullery, Strong Solar Radiation Forces from Anomalously Reflecting Metasurfaces for Solar Sail Attitude Control, Scientific Report
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 Example - Solar Pressure
What is the solar force on a solar panel inclined at 20 deg to the sun with a
reflectance factor q of 0.3 if the vehicle is in Earth orbit? The solar
pressure near Earth is

Example 5.1, Brown, Elements of Spacecraft Design.

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 Magnetic Torque
• Disturbance Torque in LEO

- is S/C magnetic dipole moment

- is the local Earth magnetic field vector
- is the angle between the magnetic field lines
and perpendicular to the coil
• Due to electronics or satellite structure
Magnetorquer basic principle of operation

Niccolò Bellini, Magnetic Actuators for Nanosatellite Attitude Control

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 Miscellaneous Torques
• Generated by S/C
- Venting (pressure tanks, etc.)
- Jettisoning of parts
• Internal torques
- No impact on overall angular momentum, but impacts orientation
- High frequency jitter introduced by articulation of antennae, solar arrays,
instrument scanner motion, deployable booms

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 Sensor Description Application
Accelerometer Measures acceleration on an element. Inertial acceleration measurements,
vibration sensing, nutation

Sensor Types
measurements.
Angle encoder Measures either absolute or relative Angle measurements or angular rate
angle of a shaft. mea- surements.
Magnetometer Measures the magnitude of a magnetic Attitude determination. Magnetic
field. control.
Potentiometer A variable resistance device in which the Measurement of angles between rotating
• Sensors play an important resistance varies as it is rotated. spacecraft components.
Gyro Any device that measures angular rates. Rotation angle and rate measurements.
role in determining a Horizon sensor Detects the earth horizon. Requires Attitude determination for spinning
spacecraft’s attitude and spacecraft rota- tion. space- craft. Planetary width for
navigation.
control. Star mapper Measures the times of the crossing of a
star across a detector.
Inertial attitude determination.

- Planetary optical sensors Star tracker Measures the position of a star image in Inertial attitude determination.
the focal plane of the sensor.
- Gyros/Control moment gyroscope Sun sensor Either a single axis or two axis Attitude determination particularly yaw
- GPS measurement of the angle of the sun attitude determination. Also used for sun
with respect to the boresight of the safe modes.
- Others sensor.
Rangefinder Determines the distance between two Docking, orbit manoeuvres.
objects that are not connected.

Hall effect Measures the change in magnetic field. Used to determine rotor position in a
motor.

[1] Classes of sensors

[1] Table 11.1, Michael Paluszek, Stephanie Thomas, Joseph Mueller, Pradeep Bhatta, Paul Griesemer, Yosef Razin, Gary Pajer, and Chris Galea, Spacecraft Attitude and
Orbit Control Volume 2, 4th Edition
47
 Horizon Sensors
• Use the spacecraft to scan the horizon of a celestial body. Detects the light at the
edge of the Earth’s atmosphere to determine its position.
• Used for attitude determination on spinning/dual spin spacecraft.
• Accuracy to ~0.05° for LEO
• Issues: Earth’s atmosphere not constant and can have trouble detecting the edge.

[1] Horizon scanner

geometry

[1] Figure 11.1, Michael Paluszek, Stephanie Thomas, Joseph Mueller, Pradeep Bhatta, Paul Griesemer, Yosef Razin, Gary Pajer, and Chris Galea, Spacecraft Attitude
and Orbit Control Volume 2, 4th Edition
48
 Earth Sensors
• Detect the edge of the earth without requiring
the spacecraft to spin.
• Use an imager that sees the CO2 band.
• Three types: torsion bar scanning, array and
conical scanning.
• Scanning sensors measure roll by measuring the
earth chord at a specific cant angle.
[1] Earth sensor

[1] https://satsearch.co/products/meisei-electric-earth-sensor-for-satellite
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 Digital Sun Sensors
• Measure the position of the sun image in the sensor
plane.
• Use special patterns of thermal detection or CCD
(charge-coupled device, a light-sensitive circuit)
elements.
• Suitable for all S/C
• Both coarse and precision sensors available
- Coarse ~ 0.1°
- Precision < few arcsecs

The Redwire Coarse Sun Sensor (CSS) is a

[1] https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Figure-3-2-Digital-sun-sensors-13_fig7_349325744 proven robust and radiation-hardened
50 sensor engineered for spaceflight
 Star Sensors
• Correlate the image against the database, to determine
relative orientation to the celestial sphere
• Most accurate ~ arcsec
- Can be high cost, weight, and require high computing power
- Sensitive to light interference (Sun, Earth, etc.)
- Also exhausts from s/c thrusters, etc.
• Types
- Gimbal mounted (fixed to a star)
- Body-fixed star tracker
- Correlates against a known database
Star tracker, TDP 6 for Alphasat

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 Gyros/Control Moment Gyroscope
• Used for two purposes:
- Rate measurement: Sum progressive changes from
initial position
- Integrating attitude between sun or star sensor
updates
- Conservation of angular momentum
- Motion indicated by change in gimbal angles
• Cannot give an attitude reference by
themselves as the error grows with time, Tensor Tech CMG-10m Control
Moment Gyroscope

used to supplement other devices.

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 Magnetometers
• Magnetic field: modelled as a tilted-centred dipole
• Magnetometers measure ambient magnetic field
- 3 orthogonal components
- Compared to known reference values → S/C attitude
• Usually mounted on booms as they must be kept away
from other sources of magnetic fields

[1] 3 axis magnetometer Illustration of the difference between geomagnetic poles

(Nm and Sm) and geographical poles (Ng and Sg). Credit:
Wikipedia

[1] https://www.meisei.co.jp/english/products/space/satellite-components/p1364
53
 GPS Receivers
• For large S/C in LEO
• Put receivers at different points on the satellite
• Can be very precise
• Attitude determination and navigation

Credit: Nanyang
Technological University

54
 Attitude Determination - Summary
• Accuracy versus cost and complexity

Sensor Accuracy, deg Remarks

Sun sensor 0.01–0.1 Simple, reliable, cheap, intermittent use

Horizon scanner 0.02–0.03 Expensive, orbit-dependent, poor in yaw

Magnetometer 1 Cheap, low altitude use, continuous coverage

Star tracker 0.001 Expensive, heavy, complex, high accuracy

Gyroscope 0.01/h Best short-term reference, costly

Table 7.2, Attitude determination techniques [G&F]

55
 Take-aways
In this lecture, we have to
• Understand the equations of motion for attitude dynamics and different variations
of attitude representation.
• Understand the motion of precession.
• Understand, apply and analyse the pointing accuracy.
• Understand the inertia matrix and principal axes.
• Understand and apply the pointing budget.
• Understand major external/environmental torques.
• Analyse the torque and angular momentum.
• Understand common attitude determination sensors.

56
56
 Appendix Calculation of a determinant
• For a matrix: , the determinant of matrix , denoted as or , is calculated as:
• For a matrix: , the determinant of matrix , is calculated as: , which
expands to .

57
 Angular Momentum
• Rigid body assumption:
• Then, for each mass element:
• Angular momentum of the body:

where is the inertia matrix

58