Analysis and Design of Attitude Determination and Control Systems Onboard Micro Satellites Utilizing Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar

Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) traditionally uses larger satellites in Sun synchronous orbits to provide high resolution image quality during any time of day or weather condition. This thesis describes the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) for a micro-class satellite with a SAR antenna onboard (12U, CubeSat). The objective is to study how smaller satellites operate with SAR systems onboard utilizing a three reaction wheel configuration and a bias-momentum satellite using magnetic control. The viability for pointing a CubeSat containing SAR systems (Cube-SAR) is validated using a constructed high fidelity simulator which models system dynamics, actuators and sensors, the attitude filter, and the two control configurations. This thesis also discusses hardware selection and the application of zero Doppler steering for Cube-SAR. The results show that the system is controllable using the bias-momentum satellite, however it has restrictions that the fully stabilized three wheel case does not.