Hybrid magnetic attitude control system under CubeSat standards

In a one-unit (1U) CubeSat satellite, the attitude determination and control system restricts its allocated mass to be in the range of 150-200 g, and to operate with at most 1 W. Under such tight constraints, effective attitude control system design becomes quite challenging, especially for institutions that have no prior experience in space projects. Novice institutions usually start by designing passive control systems as they are more reliable. They only venture to test active control after attitude determination, satellite´s communications, central control and power systems have been tested. Notably, at Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, within the development of its first CubeSat satellite project Chasqui I, a hybrid magnetic attitude control system has been devised so that active control can be tested with high reliability.