BeeSat - A pico satellite of TU Berlin for the in-orbit verification of miniaturized wheels
- Paper number
IAC-08.B4.4.B10
- Author
Prof. Hakan Kayal, Wuerzburg University, Germany
- Coauthor
Prof. Klaus Briess, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
- Coauthor
Mr. Frank Baumann, Germany
- Year
2008
- Abstract
Since the introduction of the CUBESAT specification by the California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University, many others started the development of pico satellites. Currently more than 80 universities and a number of companies are working on pico satellites worldwide. However many applications, such as earth observation, require precise attitude control capability. But the attitude control performance of pico satellites is very limited yet due to the lack of suitable components such as reaction wheels or rate sensors for attitude control. Technische Universität Berlin has therefore started to develop such components together with partners from industry and research organizations. The first component is a reaction wheel, which will be verified in orbit in the frame of the BeeSat (Berlin Experimental and Educational Satellite) pico satellite project. It was developed in cooperation with the industrial partner Astro- und Feinwerktechnik Adler-shof GmbH and with the support of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) under the contract number 50JR0552. The wheels are suitable for pico satellite applications and will contribute to design and build three-axis attitude control system for pico satellites. BeeSat will use a configuration of three wheels, connected to the wheel electronics board with a CAN bus interface, which is controlled by the on board data handling sys-tem. The satellite is currently in the final integration phase and the launch is planed for July 2008 by an Indian PSLV. BeeSat is a pico satellite in the CUBESAT format. It uses sun sensors and magnetome-ters as attitude sensors. Besides the wheels, BeeSat uses a magnetic coil system to control the attitude. A small camera is used for earth observation purposes. BeeSat has an advanced, fully redundant on board computer system, which is based on a 32 bit mi-croprocessor. This paper gives an overview on the motivation, the current state of the project and a description of the BeeSat satellite as well as an outlook regarding the significance of miniaturization for further pico and nano satellite programs.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.B4.4.B10.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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