This paper presents a novel six degrees of freedom ground-based experimental testbed, designed for testing new guidance, navigation, and control algorithms for nano-satellites. The development of innovative guidance, navigation and control methodologies is a necessary step in the advance of autonomous spacecraft. The testbed allows for testing these algorithms in a one-g laboratory environment, increasing system reliability while reducing development costs. The system stands out among the existing experimental platforms because all degrees of freedom of motion are dynamically reproduced. The hardware and software components of the testbed are detailed in the paper, as well as the motion tracking system used to perform its navigation. A Lyapunov-based strategy for closed loop control is used in hardware-in-the loop experiments to successfully demonstrate the system's capabilities.
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