Development of a Throttleable Attitude Control Scheme for Electrospray Propulsion Systems

Abstract

Electrospray thrusters have emerged as highly promising propulsion options for small satellites due to their compact size, low weight, and power requirements. These thrusters offer precise, efficient, and scalable attitude control, making them ideal for missions requiring fine adjustments and advanced capabilities such as formation flying and docking maneuvers. However, to fully exploit the potential of electrospray thrusters, control strategies specific to them must be developed. In this work, a parameterized, PID gain-scheduled attitude controller that leverages the unique throttleability of electrospray thrusters is developed and validated. The developed controller is adaptable across operating conditions, as well as electrospray thrust coefficient values. Extensive modeling efforts are undertaken to incorporate the throttleability and operational constraints of electrospray thrusters, ensuring accurate performance predictions. The control system is simulated under various operating conditions to assess and verify its functionality and robustness against disturbance torques. Validation experiments in a magnetic levitation CubeSat testbed are proposed.