COTS-Based Wireless Magnetic Sensor for Small Satellites

Abstract

We report on the utilization of a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) magnetic sensor for the mission NANOSAT-01 and the set of tests that have been developed to up-screen it. The magnetic sensor head is a Wheatstone bridge formed by four anisotropic magnetoresistances (AMR). AMR sensors are an adequate choice for medium- to high-sensitivity (~3 mV/V/G) and resolution (~ 3 ¿G) requirements, mostly due to their low weight and volume that are so interesting for the aerospace industry. The whole system installed in NANOSAT-01 is formed by two biaxial sensors with two redundant PCBs (printed circuit boards) of RAD-HARD proximity electronics, which conditions the AMR output signal, measure the temperature, and resets the AMR. This magnetic sensor belongs to the attitude control system (ACS) of the satellite.