Terrestrial target tracking using low Earth orbit satellites provides essential daily services and vital scientific data. In this thesis, the Attitude and Orbit Control System of such a terrestrial tracking satellite, Nanosatellite for Earth Monitoring and Observation Aerosol Monitor, is presented in detail. The satellite is a new generation Earth observation mission with the objective of detecting global atmospheric aerosol content through sub-degree pointing. The design is presented from initial hardware selection and budget development to operation definition and mission operation. The efficacy of performing precise autonomous Earth-pointing on a small satellite platform is validated through high fidelity simulations involving satellite and environmental dynamics, test-characterized hardware models and flight software-in-the-loop. The results provide practical target tracking methodologies which in the past have been publicly inaccessible to the author's best knowledge and which can be now be applied to a broad range of precise Earth-pointing satellites.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/42965 |
| Date | 28 November 2013 |
| Creators | Ibrahim, Najmus |
| Contributors | Zee, Robert E. |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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