This monograph reports on the development of the attitude determination backbone of the Ionospheric Observation Nanosatellite Formation (ION-F). Three spacecraft with similarly modest pointing constraints comprise the ION-F constellation. Pointing requirements for the constellation are dictated by the formation flying mission objective and communication demands. To satisfy pointing requirements...

The Satellite Navigation and Positioning (SNAP) group at The University of New South Wales has been conducting research into high precision attitude determination using a multi-antenna single-frequency GPS array, aided by low grade angular rate gyros. The objective of the research is to develop an accurate, reliable attitude sensor solution at an affordable cost which can be implemented on UAVs...

Precision attitude determination is a key requirement for precision targeting. Current targeting systems use range and bearing to target (relative to the Forward Observer’s GPS coordinates) to derive the target coordinates. The accuracy of these coordinates is currently limited by the accuracy to which the bearing to target can be observed. Conventional methods of determining attitude include g...

PW-Sat2 satellite is a 2kg CubeSat that is being developed by the students from Warsaw University of Technology. The project is a part of activity of the Students’ Space Association from Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering. The satellite will be launched in 2016 in Low Earth Orbit to test the deorbitation method using deployed sail in the end of the mission. The CubeSat will have depl...

Attitude determination systems based on global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) present several advantages, most of all, for very small satellites. GNSS receivers have low power consumption, limited mass, small volume, and are relatively inexpensive. However, if the attitude information is extracted from the relative position between two or more GNSS antennas placed on the nanosatellite, du...

The author surveys algorithms used in star identification, commonly used in star trackers to determine the attitude of a spacecraft. Star trackers are a staple of attitude determination systems for most types of satellites. The paper covers: (a) lost-in-space algorithms (when no a priori attitude information is available), (b) recursive algorithms (when some a priori attitude information is ava...