An Adaptive Approach for Satellite Inertia Tensor Estimation Applied to Air-Bearing Test-beds

This paper presents an adaptive approach for estimating the satellite inertia tensor, applied to the air-bearing testbed developed by the Instituto de Investigacíon Astronómica y Aeroespacial Pedro Paulet (IAAPP). Discrepancies between CAD simulations and real-world measurements, caused by unmodeled components such as cables and mass center offsets, introduce challenges in accurately estimating inertia values. To overcome these challenges, the paper proposes an adaptive control methodology utilizing three reaction wheels as actuators, complemented by an adaptive proportional controller to regulate the torque output. The methodology demonstrates high accuracy in inertia tensor estimation and effective control of the satellite’s angular rate. These results validate the proposed approach and highlight its potential for enhancing the design and testing of satellite attitude control systems.