UTILITY
Gaining popularity among microsat mission Primes, this turn-key, customizable, technology-agnostic, closed-loop control system greatly lessens the burden on systems engineering teams. By outsourcing the microsat control system to leading ADCS experts, clients can expect best-fit solutions on shorter lead times than frequently possible through piece-part procurement and/or in-house development.
When a closed-loop control system is integrated into a spacecraft (SC), the main OBC interfaces with the ADCS controller only and is not tasked with managing the sensors and actuators (although the ADCS controller can allow the OBC to control certain parts of the sensors/actuators manually).
However, the exact selection of sensors and actuators that are used in the closed-loop ADCS are based on the pointing requirements of the SC, which is usually driven by the payload and communication subsystems.
Typical control modes the ADCS can perform include:
• Detumbling
• Y-Thomson spin
• Nadir pointing
• Earth coordinate target tracking
• Sun tracking
• Inertial vector tracking
After release in orbit, the OBC would typically activate the ADCS to perform detumbling into a safe-mode Y-Thomson spin. Thereafter, the ADCS sensors and actuators would be checked and finally, commanded to control the SC to a 3-Axis stable mode.