A combined configuration (αβ filter- TRIAD algorithm) for spacecraft attitude estimation based on in-Orbit Flight Data

The attitude estimation has been viewed as one of the key technologies in space research works. It is used to convert the sensor measurement data to an estimated attitude using different estimation methods. However, because of the difficulty of space missions and tight computational budget most estimators suffer from height consuming which render them unsuitable. In this paper, the latter problem is addressed based on a new configuration for on board attitude determination and control system (ADCS) implementation based on in-Orbit Flight Data. The proposed configuration is a combination of αβ filter and Triad algorithm using the concept of sensor fusion with Magnetometer and Sun-sensor, it is applied for linearized satellite model, when the satellite has small deviations in the attitude angles (in imaging mission), and its simulation results are compared to the in-orbit attitude of Alsat-1which was estimated using small Euler angles based the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) implemented on board Alsat-1.The primary goal of the addressed problem is to perform a low computational budget and good accuracy in the same time. It found that the proposed configuration has acceptable performances and a reduced computational budget. Its simulation results are similar to the real results of Alsat-1, having an absolute error less than one degree. © 2021, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.