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Advanced test environment for automated attitude control testing of fully integrated CubeSats on system level

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Abstract

As CubeSats are increasingly used for commercial purposes such as Earth observation, communication, and scientific research, it is essential to improve their reliability. Recent studies show that primarily insufficient functional testing on system level led to low success rates in former missions. Additionally, high-precision attitude control becomes more important for small satellites, especially in formation missions with multiple cooperating satellites. This paper introduces a unique test facility that allows for automated calibration and verification of the attitude determination and control system of fully integrated CubeSats with high accuracy. Calibration and functional testing at the system level are crucial for ensuring accurate in-orbit performance and detecting failures that may be caused by interfaces or interference with other subsystems. Testing fully integrated satellites prevents mission loss and significantly increases reliability. The automation of calibration and testing procedures improves the overall system quality, while simultaneously reducing the required verification effort, to meet the demands of the growing number of CubeSat missions. This paper presents the results of successfully performed automated system-level tests and provides a comprehensive outlook on verifying cooperative attitude control in multi-satellite formations. This contribution is significant for universities, companies, and agencies by providing an example concept and implementation of automated attitude control testing on system level with extension toward testing cooperating satellites.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully thank all the collaborators who contributed to the projects mentioned in the funding section.

Funding

The authors acknowledge the support from European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant NetSat under the Grant Agreement No. 320377 and the Free State of Bavaria within the research project ForTe (In-Orbit Formationstests). Telematics Earth Observation Mission (TOM), supported by the Bavarian Ministry of Economics and the Regional Leaders Summit (RLS) for the cooperation in the Telematics International Mission (TIM). QUBE, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the IKT 2020 program. UWE-4, supported by the German national space agency DLR (Raumfahrt-Agentur des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V.) by funding from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology by approval from German Parliament with reference 50 RU 1501. Space Factory 4.0 project funded by German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) with reference 50RP1712

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. S4 - Smart Small Satellite Systems GmbH, Magdalene-Schoch-Str. 5, Würzburg, 97074, Germany

    Oliver Ruf

  2. Zentrum für Telematik e.V., Magdalene-Schoch-Str. 5, 97074, Würzburg, Germany

    Maximilian von Arnim, Florian Kempf, Roland Haber, Lisa Elsner, Johannes Dauner, Slavi Dombrovski, Alexander Kramer & Klaus Schilling

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  1. Oliver Ruf
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  2. Maximilian von Arnim
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  3. Florian Kempf
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Correspondence to Oliver Ruf.

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Ruf, O., von Arnim, M., Kempf, F. et al. Advanced test environment for automated attitude control testing of fully integrated CubeSats on system level. CEAS Space J (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-023-00523-x

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