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Jason D. Searcy
Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla
Advisor: Dr. H. J. Pernicka
Abstract
Small satellites usually have something else that is small other than its size: they usually have small budgets. The low funding that is available usually leads to some systems being built instead of purchased. Purchased components are typically highly tested and could have a flight history to ensure their space readiness. This is usually not possible for components that are built in-house. To be completely confident that these components will work, hardware-in-the-loop testing can be very beneficial. This paper describes a test-bed that will have the ability to test the attitude determination and control system of an entire small satellite. The system is versatile enough to test a variety of attitude determination devices such as magnetometers, Sun sensors, and star trackers. The system will also test control devices such as magnetic torque coils and cold gas thrusters.
Jason Searcy is a Ph.D. student in Aerospace Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. His specialty is spacecraft dynamics and control, specifically attitude dynamics and control. Publications include orbit determination and magnetometer-only attitude determination. Jason was the attitude determination and control system lead for the M-SAT satellite design team for three years while the team took third place in the University Nanosat Competition. Jason and a fellow student also won first place in the Small Satellite Student Paper Competition and presented work at the Small Satellite Systems and Services international conference in Rhodes, Greece. |
