Attitude control system design and on-orbit performance analysis of nano-satellite—“Tian Tuo 1”

“Tian Tuo 1” (TT-1) nano-satellite is the first single-board nano-satellite that was successfully launched in China. The main objective of TT-1 is technology demonstration and scientific measurements. The satellite carries out the significant exploration of single-board architecture feasibility validation, and it is tailored to the low-cost philosophy by adopting numerous commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components. The satellite is featured with three-axis stabilization control capability. A pitch bias momentum wheel and three magnetic coils are adopted as control actuators. The sun sensors, magnetometers and a three-axis gyro are employed as the measurement sensors. The quaternion estimator (QUEST) and unscented Kalman filter (UKF) method are adopted for the nano-satellite attitude determination. On-orbit data received by ground station is conducted to analysis the performance of attitude determination and control system (ADCS). The results show that the design of ADCS for TT-1 is suitable, robust and feasible.