A comprehensive attitude formulation with spin for numerical model of irradiance for CubeSats and Picosats

Abstract A comprehensive but simple formulation for the attitude of a nanosatellite is presented herein with a focus on problems associated with spin and heat transfer. Sequential matrices of rotation predict the position and orientation of the spacecraft, which govern the heat fluxes composed of solar, albedo and infrared radiation. These fluxes are boundary conditions for the energy equation and are implemented to solve the temperature field based on the finite volume method. Common spins are used as benchmark cases to study their effect on the temperature of CubeSats. The attitude of nadir, detumbling, high speed, arbitrary motion and maximum exposure to the Sun are simulated for orbits with and without eclipse, at an altitude of 650 km and inclination of 90°. Results for total heat influx and temperature of the external surfaces are shown for single full orbits. Low spins are associated with the largest temperature gradients, due to the unequal distribution of heat fluxes. High angular speed homogenizes the temperature, especially for a spin around three axes. In general, for high spin, temperatures are nearly constant and appropriate for regular operational temperatures. Data collect from CubeSats in orbit are compared with the numerical values and satisfactory agreement is observed, despite differences in the designs and geometries. The model presented is comprised of a formulation for the spin and for the thermal irradiation over a CubeSat and can be implemented in traditional programming languages to investigate different orbital parameters for CubeSats and Picosats.

[1]  Chen Yang,et al.  Static and dynamic evaluations for large square solar sail concept based on scalable prototype validation , 2019, Acta Astronautica.

[2]  M. Torres,et al.  Thermal Numerical Analysis of the Primary Composite Structure of a CubeSat , 2019, Aerospace.

[3]  M. Pinar Mengüç,et al.  Thermal Radiation Heat Transfer , 2020 .

[4]  Hyun-Ung Oh,et al.  On-Orbit Thermal Design and Validation of 1 U Standardized CubeSat of STEP Cube Lab , 2016 .

[5]  Li Wang,et al.  Thermal design, analysis and comparison on three concepts of space solar power satellite , 2017 .

[6]  Frank P. Incropera,et al.  Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer , 1981 .

[7]  Hassen Fourati,et al.  Development of a radiation based heat model for satellite attitude determination , 2018, Aerospace Science and Technology.

[8]  B. T. Suimenbayev,et al.  Features of space solar power station control system , 2019, Acta Astronautica.

[9]  Cameron Weston,et al.  Design, Development, Implementation, and On-orbit Performance of the Dynamic Ionosphere CubeSat Experiment Mission , 2014 .

[10]  Wei Guo,et al.  A self-driven temperature and flow rate co-adjustment mechanism based on Shape-Memory-Alloy (SMA) assembly for an adaptive thermal control coldplate module with on-orbit service characteristics , 2017 .

[11]  Xibin Cao,et al.  Relative position and attitude estimation for satellite formation with coupled translational and rotational dynamics , 2010 .

[12]  Baiyan He,et al.  Optimization design method for the cable network of mesh reflector antennas considering space thermal effects , 2019, Aerospace Science and Technology.

[13]  Jonas Friedel,et al.  Thermal Analysis of the CubeSat CP3 Satellite , 2011 .

[15]  N. Siakavellas,et al.  Preliminary design and comparative study of thermal control in a nanosatellite through smart variable emissivity surfaces , 2018, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering.

[16]  Marco Carlo Masoero,et al.  Thermal design and analysis of a nanosatellite in low earth orbit , 2015 .

[17]  Yang Liu,et al.  Numerical simulation on antenna temperature field of complex structure satellite in solar simulator , 2009 .

[18]  Z. Hong,et al.  Analysis the Unsteady-State Temperature Distribution of Micro-Satellite Under Stabilization Effects , 1999 .

[19]  Dmitry Sergeevich Roldugin,et al.  Spin-stabilized satellite magnetic attitude control scheme without initial detumbling , 2014 .

[20]  I. Pérez-Grande,et al.  Uncertainty calculation for spacecraft thermal models using a generalized SEA method , 2018, Acta Astronautica.

[21]  T. Woods,et al.  CubeSat On-Orbit Temperature Comparison to Thermal-Balance-Tuned-Model Predictions , 2018 .

[22]  Róbert Kovács,et al.  Thermal analysis of the SMOG-1 PocketQube satellite , 2018, Applied Thermal Engineering.

[23]  James R. Wertz,et al.  Space Mission Analysis and Design , 1992 .

[24]  Leonardo Kessler Slongo,et al.  Energy-driven scheduling algorithm for nanosatellite energy harvesting maximization , 2018 .

[25]  Fabrizio Stesina.  Validation of a Test Platform to Qualify Miniaturized Electric Propulsion Systems , 2019 .

[26]  Jacoba Auret,et al.  Design of an Aerodynamic Attitude Control System for a CubeSat , 2012 .

[27]  V. Józsa,et al.  Thermal Processes in Vacuum , 2019, Power Systems.

[28]  Eric Lengyel,et al.  Mathematics for 3D Game Programming and Computer Graphics, Second Edition , 2001 .

[29]  Mario Bonnici,et al.  Analytical and numerical models for thermal related design of a new pico-satellite , 2019, Applied Thermal Engineering.

[30]  K. Howell,et al.  Natural periodic orbit-attitude behaviors for rigid bodies in three-body periodic orbits☆ , 2017 .

[31]  Juan Cristóbal Zagal,et al.  Evolutionary design of a satellite thermal control system: Real experiments for a CubeSat mission , 2016 .

[32]  Jiwei Song,et al.  Thermal analysis on Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer main radiators under the flight attitude adjustment of International Space Station , 2020 .

[33]  James Cutler,et al.  Maximizing photovoltaic power generation of a space-dart configured satellite , 2015 .