The estimation of the residual magnetic moment in a CubeSat controlled only by magnetic torque bars is critical to achieving accurate attitude pointing. This process can be divided into two phases: an initial ground-based estimation using a testbed to characterize the magnetic moment prior to launch and a subsequent in-orbit estimation. This work proposes a low-cost, fully autonomous in-orbit estimation and compensation approach, incorporating several improvements over recently published methods. Moreover, we present results obtained using a magnetic-only feedback control scheme, which poses additional challenges to the robustness of the combined controller-estimator-compensator system. The analysis also includes scenarios with intermittent attitude information caused by typical eclipse periods in low Earth orbits. In addition, a nadir-pointing mode is evaluated under near-inertial pointing conditions to assess the behavior of the estimator. Finally, the observability of the residual magnetic moment estimator is verified using an appropriate time-varying formulation of the innovation process.
Citation: Fabricio Della Vedova, María Eugenia Etcheverry, Sofía Baldoni, Juan Giribet, Pablo Servidia. Magnetic-torquers-only attitude control with estimation and compensation of the residual magnetic moment[J]. Metascience in Aerospace, 2026, 3(1): 56-76. doi: 10.3934/mina.2026005
The estimation of the residual magnetic moment in a CubeSat controlled only by magnetic torque bars is critical to achieving accurate attitude pointing. This process can be divided into two phases: an initial ground-based estimation using a testbed to characterize the magnetic moment prior to launch and a subsequent in-orbit estimation. This work proposes a low-cost, fully autonomous in-orbit estimation and compensation approach, incorporating several improvements over recently published methods. Moreover, we present results obtained using a magnetic-only feedback control scheme, which poses additional challenges to the robustness of the combined controller-estimator-compensator system. The analysis also includes scenarios with intermittent attitude information caused by typical eclipse periods in low Earth orbits. In addition, a nadir-pointing mode is evaluated under near-inertial pointing conditions to assess the behavior of the estimator. Finally, the observability of the residual magnetic moment estimator is verified using an appropriate time-varying formulation of the innovation process.
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Fabricio Della Vedova, María Eugenia Etcheverry, Sofía Baldoni, Juan Giribet, Pablo Servidia. Magnetic-torquers-only attitude control with estimation and compensation of the residual magnetic moment[J]. Metascience in Aerospace, 2026, 3(1): 56-76. doi: 10.3934/mina.2026005
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