Development of a 10g Femto-satellite with Active Attitude Control

This paper describes the initial design of a Femto-satellite with active attitude control. It has a structure with a matchbox form factor, measures 3.5 x 3.5 x 0.5cm, and uses three miniaturized orthogonal magnetorquers as actuators for attitude control. It also features short range RF communication at 868 MHz for demonstrating satellite networking and swarming around a CubeSat as a host. Preliminary test results obtained from a prototype device weighing 10g are given, including IMU based attitude determination, miniaturized magnetorquers, a custom-built Helmholtz coil system, active attitude control and RF communications