Development of Satellite Attitude Simulink Model to Study the Rotational Degrees of Freedom

Abstract

The role of satellite is enormously increasing in connecting communities and societies to the global information super highway. The typical applications of satellite communication are internet access, news distribution, distant learning, telemedicine, disaster recovery and military applications etc. The attitude of satellite is its orientation in space and its regulation is one of the most important areas for a successful space mission. However, the relationships of kinematics and dynamics used to derive the equations of motion of satellite attitude are very cumbersome and difficult to understand for students at both undergraduate and graduate level. Therefore, in this research work the Simulink model of satellite attitude based on its kinematics and dynamics equations is developed to study and visualize the three rotational degrees of freedom i-e roll, pitch and yaw. The model is developed to visualize two modes of satellite maneuvers i-e Torque free rotations and satellite rotation with attitude thrusters. In first mode the external torque is absent to analyze the rotational stability and control characteristics of satellite and in second mode a pair of attitude thrusters about each principal axis is considered to do attitude maneuvers.