The Methodology for Estimating the Angular Velocity of Rotation of a Small Spacecraft Based on a Limited Number of Magnetometric Measurements

The article investigates the rotation of a prototype model small spacecraft «Aist». To estimate the parameters of the rotational motion of a small spacecraft, measurement data of the components of the induction vector of the Earth’s magnetic field are used. The joint processing of measurement data of two magnetometers is conducted in the work. The inhomogeneous influence of the target and supporting equipment of the small spacecraft was exerted on the magnetometers. The measurement accuracy of different magnetometers was different. The assessment was carried out using the well-known Boer formula. A limited number of measurements were used. It is caused by a step of 6 s between measurements. The results of assessmenting the velocity of rotation of a small spacecraft «Aist» are obtained. At first, these results were obtained in the form of discrete points the corresponding measurements of the components of the induction vector of the Earth’s magnetic field. Then the discrete dependencies were restored to continuous dependencies using the Kotelnikov series. Estimates of the angular accelerations of the rotational motion of a small spacecraft «Aist» were obtained using continuous dependencies. The results were compared with the data of other authors and showed convergence.