Responsible	Andreas Dombos
Last Updated	10/12/2025, 12:48:54 PM
Last Author	Kai Berszin

Sun Pointing

Scope

This page deals with the sun pointing mode; the configuration of pointing a specified body vector to the sun, mainly for power generating purposes.

About Sun Pointing

As previously stated, this mode is concerned with pointing the solar panels to the sun in order to optimize power generation. The main settings in EOS for controlling said mode are the Estimation Mode, the Control Mode and the Sun-pointing Body Vector. The Control Mode for Sun Pointing is called ConSunTrack (13) and automatically transitions to Nadir Pointing when the satellite is in eclipse.

Simulation Setup

EOS attribute	Setup
Simulation Start	"2025-01-01T12:00:00"
Simulation End	"2025-02-01T02:00:00"
Simulation Durations	"14:00:00"
Simulaiton Period	"00:00:00.2000000" (0.2s)
Sample Period	"00:00:00.2000000" (0.2s)
Control Mode	ConSunTrack (13)
Estimation Mode	EstGyroEKF (6)
Sun-pointing Body Vector	$[-\sqrt{2},\sqrt{2},0]$

The Earth Sensor uncertainty is set to 1.0 as per issue.

Results

Main Results

The simulation shows the satellite staying within $<1^\circ$ pointing error (requirement of $<7^\circ$) and generating around 9.8W.

Energy Consumption

The plot shows the total energy consumption by Magnetorquers and Reaction Wheels. There's a constant power draw of around 0.4W. The peaks (up to 0.7W) are due to the Control Mode switch in eclipse and can be reduced by fine tuning the Controller parameters during the switch.