Novel attitude control devices for CubeSat satellites

Abstract

In recent years a very modern trend of space exploration activities – constructing, launching and operating nano-satellites, became very popular. One of the main problems in implementation and control of nano-satellite is ensuring accurate yet simple and small-sized attitude control equipment. Most of the equipment implemented for that task in the past was large, bulky and could be hardly used on extremely small CubeSat standard nano-satellites. The equipment under development for attitude control of the satellites is described in this paper. The equipment relies on implementation of piezoelectric transducers for rotation of spherical body – reaction sphere, thus ensuring precise three-axis attitude control of the satellite by means of single device. Description of the device under development with some calculations and examples of implementation of such instrumentation is further described in the paper.