Low Cost Satellite Attitude Hardware Test Bed

Recent technological developments surrounding CubeSats and Commercial Off-The-Shelf space hardware have drastically reduced the cost of producing and flying a satellite mission. As the barriers to entry fall, space missions become a viable option for more students and research groups. Many of these missions require accurate spacecraft pointing and attitude control. Consequently, exposing students to the practical elements of spacecraft attitude sensing and control is more important than ever. To help address this challenge a novel low-cost test-bed for attitude control has been developed. This test-bed is suspended and relies on a neutrally stable universal joint to allow for 3 degrees of freedom attitude motion. This paper details the design and construction of the attitude test-bed and describes use as an educational platform.