Low-Cost Pitch Momentum Bias Control Solution for CubeSats

Cateni has identified a market opportunity for the development of a low-cost, low-SWaP attitude control solution for CubeSat-class missions.  Existing 3-axis stabilization solutions for CubeSats perform well but are over-kill for a large segment of missions that have modest requirements associated with nadir or inertial pointing.  A pitch momentum bias (PMB) solution can satisfy such requirements for 100 years of experience in GN&C system, avionics and flight software development, and are all also experienced with MOSA systems and CubeSat interfaces.   The research institution, Cornell University, and more specifically Dr. Mason Peck's Space System Design Studio (SSDS) laboratory, bring tremendous value to the project.  Dr. Peck is a renowned expert in spacecraft momentum control systems and coauthored a recent book on the topic.  His research group has extensive relevant simulation and test capabilities and has recent/current experience with a 3U platform, Pathfinder for Autonomous Navigation (PAN), which could be an excellent core platform for a 3U-class flight demonstration as part of Phase II.  In Phase I, the Cornell team will conduct a parallel design/development for a 3U class solution in addition to supporting independent verification and validation of the Cateni developed algorithms and filters.