Semi-controlled re-entry for a satellite using attitude control
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Project and Master Subjects 2025-2026
- Super-agile operation of small satellites
- Early warning fault detection for satellite operations based on telemetry
- Semi-controlled re-entry for a satellite using attitude control
- System identification of environmental effects for a satellite during re-entry
- Mu-analysis for agile satellite attitude control maneuvers
- Enabling high-accuracy HYPSO image georeferencing by high-accuracy satellite pose estimation through postprocessing of satelitte sensor data
- High-accuracy attitude determination of Earth observation satellites
- Starlink: Signals of Opportunity positioning, navigation and timing (PNT)
- GNSS-R: Simulator design of a GNSS-Reflectometry simulator
- GNSS-R: Payload and embedded SW design
- GNSS-R: GNSS jamming and spoofing source localization from space
- GNSS-R: Formation flying of small satellites
- GNSS-R: Novel ship-detection methods for GNSS-Reflectometry
- Automatic Satellite Telemetry Anomaly Detection and Trend Analysis
- Which works better, explainable AI or black-box AI?
- Integrating the HYPSO constellation with the Copernicus Suite
- Explainable AI on a GPU
- What can the HYPSO-3 Hyperperspectral Cameras Observe?
- Could a short-wave infrared hyperspectral imager characterize oil spills?
- Coordinated Planning between a satellite constellation and a Autonomous Surface Vehicle
- Calibration of Hyperspectral camera point-spread function
- Past Projects
Semi-controlled re-entry for a satellite using attitude control (F25/S26)
Re-entry is commonly the final phase of a satellite’s lifespan: the satellite accelerates into the Earth’s atmosphere until it burns. While staying away from the re-entry phase is a motivation for many satellites, hastening its onset would be beneficial in some cases, such as when the satellite is close to the end of its lifetime. This can be done by performing a controlled thrust, or as is the objective in this project, using a change in which face of the satellite is pointed towards the direction of atmospheric drag. The goal is to re-enter not just as fast as possible, but in a low-risk part of the world. The candidate is to create a simulator for the coupled attitude and position variables and then investigate the feasibility of using a drag-based attitude control re-entry strategy when in very low Earth orbit.
The task is in collaboration with the Space Norway subsidiary StatSat with focus on the satellite they are operating, the Norwegian national satellite NorSat-TD, in a project commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA).
From NTNUs side, the supervisors will be Professor Jan Tommy Gravdahl and Dr. Bjørn Andreas Kristiansen. For more information, contact Bjørn at bjorn.a.kristiansen@ntnu.no.