Attitude Control for Earth-Pointing Satellites

What is it about?

In the present setup, three pairs of coulomb surfaces with the same radius are considered; however, the plate-to-plate distances may be different along the three different body axes. The coulomb surfaces may be accomplished with lightweight materials in the form of a thin layer, which may be easily deployable and maintainable. It is observed that, the larger the distances between the coulomb surfaces, lower the charge requirement for attitude control. For managing the charges on the different surfaces, an ion chamber can be installed on board the satellite, from which ions and electrons can be pumped and siphoned back as, and when, required. This technology for attitude control of satellites may get immensely benefited in the ionosphere because of the presence of a strong magnetic field and charging environment.

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