Aerospace and Electronic Systems - May 2019 - 4

Feature Article:

DOI. No. 10.1109/MAES.2019.2915037

Estimation of Solar Panels Available Power for a LEO
Satellite in Detumbling Mode Based on Monte Carlo
Analysis
Reza Amjadifard, K. N.Toosi University of Technology, Tehan, Iran and Space
Research Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
Farhad Bagheroskouei, Space Research Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
Ehsan Maani Miandoab, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Alireza Fasooniehchi, Iran Telecommunication Research Center, Tehran, Iran

INTRODUCTION
In practice, satellites may temporarily lose their body rate
control in various conditions. High tip-off rate after separation from launch vehicle, the tumbling caused by avionic reset during daily operation, and accidental attitude
loss during orbit correction are some examples. In general,
satellite tumbling, separation tip-off rate, avionics anomaly, and attitude loss during orbit correction, usually prevents on-board optical attitude sensors from locking
targets, such as Sun, Earth, or star. Also, bundling of several smaller satellites and ejecting them from a launcher in
a single trip has become a trend in the recent years [1].
Tumbling is an emergency condition for a satellite. Several research works have been done related to attitude control, thermal control, and power analysis of satellites in
this condition [2]. Bainum and Sellappan [3], externally
mounted, utilized movable telescoping appendages for
detumbling of a satellite. Zhang et al. [4] proposed a novel

Authors' current addresses: R. Amjadifard, Satellite
Research Institute, Iranian Space Research Center,
Tehran, 1459777511, Iran, E-mail: (r.amjadifard@isrc.ac.
ir). F. Bagheroskouei, Power Department in Satellite
Research Institute, Iranian Space Research Center,
Tehran, 1459777511, Iran, E-mail: (f.bageroskuee@aut.ac.
ir). E. M. Miandoab, School of Engineering Science,
University of Tehran, Tehran 1417466191, Iran, E-mail:
(e.maani@ut.ac.ir). A. Fasooniehchi, Iran Telecommunication Research Center, Tehran 1439955271, Iran,
E-mail: (a.r.fasooniehchi@gmail.com).
Manuscript received February 26, 2018, revised March 9,
2019, and ready for publication May 2, 2019.
Review handled by R. Linares.
0885-8985/19/$26.00 ß 2019 IEEE
4

approach for the attitude and position estimation of a satellite in the tumbling condition. Roldugin and Testani [5]
utilized magnetic torquers in active control of the angular
motion of an asymmetrical satellite implementing five
algorithms. Utilizing a movable mass control system for
stabilizing a tumbling asymmetric spacecraft about the
maximum inertia axis is investigated [6].
Most of the satellites utilizing deployable solar panels
lack the chance of the panel deployment in some time
interval after separation and have an erg in using limited
on-board battery electric power. Still, spacecraft shall
utilize the magnetic torquers regarding despin control
processes, and sometimes other subsequent attitude acquisition activities [6]. Due to the limitation of the consumable battery power in tumbling conditions, utilizing
effective detumbling methods for reducing satellite angular velocity is of significant importance and has attracted
many researchers toward developing novel algorithms in
this regard [7].
For satellites utilizing body-mounted solar panels,
there is the possibility of receiving power from Sun in
tumbling conditions. But till now, no feasibility assessment has been investigated in this regard. In this article,
the feasibility of body mounted solar panels regarding
power generation in detumbling mode is analyzed in
details. To estimate solar power generation, the following
steps are implemented:
Preassumptions, including orbital
launcher induced factors, etc.

parameters,

Randomly generation of the initial angular velocities by Monte Carlo method. This method is
being used in wide variety of research works
from engineering to risk management [8]-[10].
Even though, some applications have proposed

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