Spacecraft Attitude Determination with Earth Albedo Corrected Sun Sensor Measurements

摘要

This thesis focuses on advanced modeling of the Earth albedo experienced by satellites in Earth orbit. The model of the Earth albedo maintains directional information of the Earth albedo irradiance from each partition on the Earth surface. This allows enhanced modeling of Sun sensor current outputs with improved accuracy. The Earth albedo model may be applied in simulations of the space environment useful in the satellite design phase. The Earth albedo model is verified using the telemetry data of the Danish Ørsted satellite. Novel methods for incorporating the Earth albedo model into the Q-Method, Extended Kalman Filter, and Unscented Kalman Filter algorithms are presented and the results are compared. Combining the Unscented Kalman Filter with Earth albedo and enhanced Sun sensor modeling allows for three-axis attitude determination from Sun sensor only, which previously has been perceived to be non-observable.