@phdthesis{Bangert2019,
  author    = {Bangert, Philip},
  title     = {Magnetic Attitude Control of Miniature Satellites and its Extension towards Orbit Control using an Electric Propulsion System},
  isbn      = {978-3-945459-28-7 (online)},
  issn      = {1868-7474},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-17702},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-177020},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {The attitude and orbit control system of pico- and nano-satellites to date is one of the bottle necks for future scientific and commercial applications. A performance increase while keeping with the satellites' restrictions will enable new space missions especially for the smallest of the CubeSat classes. This work addresses methods to measure and improve the satellite's attitude pointing and orbit control performance based on advanced sensor data analysis and optimized on-board software concepts. These methods are applied to spaceborne satellites and future CubeSat missions to demonstrate their validity. An in-orbit calibration procedure for a typical CubeSat attitude sensor suite is developed and applied to the UWE-3 satellite in space. Subsequently, a method to estimate the attitude determination accuracy without the help of an external reference sensor is developed. Using this method, it is shown that the UWE-3 satellite achieves an in-orbit attitude determination accuracy of about 2°. An advanced data analysis of the attitude motion of a miniature satellite is used in order to estimate the main attitude disturbance torque in orbit. It is shown, that the magnetic disturbance is by far the most significant contribution for miniature satellites and a method to estimate the residual magnetic dipole moment of a satellite is developed. Its application to three CubeSats currently in orbit reveals that magnetic disturbances are a common issue for this class of satellites. The dipole moments measured are between 23.1mAm² and 137.2mAm². In order to autonomously estimate and counteract this disturbance in future missions an on-board magnetic dipole estimation algorithm is developed. The autonomous neutralization of such disturbance torques together with the simplification of attitude control for the satellite operator is the focus of a novel on-board attitude control software architecture. It incorporates disturbance torques acting on the satellite and automatically optimizes the control output. Its application is demonstrated in space on board of the UWE-3 satellite through various attitude control experiments of which the results are presented here. The integration of a miniaturized electric propulsion system will enable CubeSats to perform orbit control and, thus, open up new application scenarios. The in-orbit characterization, however, poses the problem of precisely measuring very low thrust levels in the order of µN. A method to measure this thrust based on the attitude dynamics of the satellite is developed and evaluated in simulation. It is shown, that the demonstrator mission UWE-4 will be able to measure these thrust levels with a high accuracy of 1\% for thrust levels higher than 1µN. The orbit control capabilities of UWE-4 using its electric propulsion system are evaluated and a hybrid attitude control system making use of the satellite's magnetorquers and the electric propulsion system is developed. It is based on the flexible attitude control architecture mentioned before and thrust vector pointing accuracies of better than 2° can be achieved. This results in a thrust delivery of more than 99\% of the desired acceleration in the target direction.},
  subject      = {Satellit},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Kramer2021,
  author    = {Kramer, Alexander},
  title     = {Orbit control of a very small satellite using electric propulsion},
  isbn      = {978-3-945459-34-8 (online)},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-24155},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-241552},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Miniaturized satellites on a nanosatellite scale below 10kg of total mass contribute most to the number of launched satellites into Low Earth Orbit today. This results from the potential to design, integrate and launch these space missions within months at very low costs. In the past decade, the reliability in the fields of system design, communication, and attitude control have matured to allow for competitive applications in Earth observation, communication services, and science missions. The capability of orbit control is an important next step in this development, enabling operators to adjust orbits according to current mission needs and small satellite formation flight, which promotes new measurements in various fields of space science. Moreover, this ability makes missions with altitudes above the ISS comply with planned regulations regarding collision avoidance maneuvering. This dissertation presents the successful implementation of orbit control capabilities on the pico-satellite class for the first time. This pioneering achievement is demonstrated on the 1U CubeSat UWE-4. A focus is on the integration and operation of an electric propulsion system on miniaturized satellites. Besides limitations in size, mass, and power of a pico-satellite, the choice of a suitable electric propulsion system was driven by electromagnetic cleanliness and the use as a combined attitude and orbit control system. Moreover, the integration of the propulsion system leaves the valuable space at the outer faces of the CubeSat structure unoccupied for future use by payloads. The used NanoFEEP propulsion system consists of four thruster heads, two neutralizers and two Power Processing Units (PPUs). The thrusters can be used continuously for 50 minutes per orbit after the liquefaction of the propellant by dedicated heaters. The power consumption of a PPU with one activated thruster, its heater and a neutralizer at emitter current levels of 30-60μA or thrust levels of 2.6-5.5μN, respectively, is in the range of 430-1050mW. Two thruster heads were activated within the scope of in-orbit experiments. The thrust direction was determined using a novel algorithm within 15.7° and 13.2° of the mounting direction. Despite limited controllability of the remaining thrusters, thrust vector pointing was achieved using the magnetic actuators of the Attitude and Orbit Control System. In mid 2020, several orbit control maneuvers changed the altitude of UWE-4, a first for pico-satellites. During the orbit lowering scenario with a duration of ten days, a single thruster head was activated in 78 orbits for 5:40 minutes per orbit. This resulted in a reduction of the orbit altitude by about 98.3m and applied a Delta v of 5.4cm/s to UWE-4. The same thruster was activated in another experiment during 44 orbits within five days for an average duration of 7:00 minutes per orbit. The altitude of UWE-4 was increased by about 81.2m and a Delta v of 4.4cm/s was applied. Additionally, a collision avoidance maneuver was executed in July 2020, which increased the distance of closest approach to the object by more than 5000m.},
  subject      = {Kleinsatellit},
  language  = {en}
}