ADCS stands for Attitude Determination and Control System. It is a subsystem in satellites that helps manage and control their orientation in space. Using sensors and actuators, the ADCS determines the satellite's position relative to Earth, the Sun, or other celestial bodies and adjusts its orientation to stay aligned with mission requirements. This ensures that instruments like antennas or cameras are accurately pointed in the desired direction. In this article, SATNow has listed some interesting ADCS systems that were trending on the website in 2024.

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Autonomous ADCS for SmallSats & 6U CubeSats

The iADCS400 from AAC Clyde Space is an Autonomous Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) that is designed for small satellites and 6U CubeSats. It has a mass of 1.15-1.7 Kg.  The ADCS system has a total momentum storage per axis of +/- 1.5, +/- 3.0, and +/- 6.01 mN.m.s and a maximum torque of 2 mNm. It supports I2C, RS-422, RS-485, UART, and CAN interfaces. It has a slewing for 6 to 12 U satellites or platforms with similar moments of inertia. This ADCS system measures 95.4 x 95.9 x 67.3 mm. Read more.

Integrated ADCS for CubeSats

The ADCS100 from Tensor Tech is an Integrated Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) that is designed for CubeSats ranging from 1.5 to 6 U in low earth orbit for 3 years. This ADCS system has a pointing +/- 0.2 deg (the sun can be captured) and +/- 1 deg (the sun cannot be captured). It has a maximum angular momentum storage of 10 mNms and a maximum torque of 1 mNm. It has a mass of 0.3 Kg and the system has a variable-speed, single-gimbal control moment gyro (CMG) driven by spherical motor technology that serves as the attitude actuator. Read more. 

Autonomous Attitude Determination and Control System for CubeSats

The KU Leuven ADCS from CubeSat Pointing is an Autonomous Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) that is suitable for use in CubeSats. It has a pointing accuracy of 0.11-6.3 deg and detumbling of +60 deg/s. This ADCS system has an RW momentum capacity of 4 mNms and an RW torque of 0.5 mNm and requires a DC supply of 3.3-5 V. It measures 90 x 96 x 50 mm and is used for autonomous Nadir, Zenith, Sun, and LLA pointing and autonomous desaturation of reaction wheels. Read more.

Attitude Control System (ACS) for 6U CubeSats

The XACT-100 from Blue Canyon Technologies is an Attitude Control System (ACS) that is designed for 6U CubeSats for LEO orbits with a spacecraft lifetime greater than 5 years. It has a mass of 1.38 Kg (wheels + torque rods) and a momentum of 100 mNms. This ACS system has a pointing accuracy of +/-0.003 deg (for 2 axes) and +/-0.007 deg (for the 3rd axis), with a slew rate of 10 deg/sec. The XACT-100 requires a DC supply of 12 V and supports an RS-422 interface. This ACS system provides precise attitude knowledge and control and measures 100 x 100 x 50 mm. Read more.

3-Axis ADCS for Attitude Stabilization & Pitch Maneuvers for CubeSats

The CubeADCS from CubeSpace is a 3-axis Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) that is designed for use in nanosatellites with a form factor of 2 to 16 U and can be configured for use in large satellites. This ADCS system has four default modes that can provide detumbling of the satellite, attitude stabilization in the orbit, perform pitch maneuvers, and 3-axis pointing and tracking functions. This system measures 90 x 96 x 57 mm and 90 x 96 x 32 (excl. actuators). Read more.

Multi-Sensor ADCS Module for Satellite Constellations

The D-Sense from D-Orbit is a Multi-Sensor ADCS Module that can track the position of the sun, the earth’s horizon, the magnetic field, and the angular rate of the spacecraft. It has a mass of 300 gms. It consists of photodiodes for sun sensing, thermopiles for earth horizon sensing, a magnetometer for earth magnetic field sensing, a gyroscope for angular rate sensing, and a camera for photos, videos, and star tracking. The D-Sense is available in a module that measures 70 x 70 x 55 mm and is ideal for satellite constellations. Read more.

Autonomous ADCS Solution for Cubesats Target Acquisition and Tracking

The IADCS-100 from Berlin Space Technologies is an ADCS System that is designed to provide high accuracy and precision attitude control for CubeSats. This ADCS system has attitude pointing of less than 1 degree and supports the 12C +RS-422 and RS485 interface. It has a power consumption of 1.15-2.7 W. It has a mass of 400 g and measures 105 x 91 x 32 mm3 in dimension. It incorporates the ADCS algorithms from the LEOS platform and allows full ADCS functionality including nadir pointing as well as autonomous target acquisition and tracking. Read more.

Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) for CubeSats

The VAC02 ADCS from Serenum Space is an ADCS System designed to provide high accuracy and precision attitude control for CubeSats with 1U and 6U form factor. This ADCS system has momentum storage of 0.6 mNms and a maximum torque of 0.2 mNm. It supports the CAN, I2C, and UART CubeSat Space Protocol interfaces. It has a mass of 424.3 g and measures 27 x 94 x 94 mm. This ADCS system also features a compact solution with a Cortex-M7 computer that provides exceptional pointing awareness and performance for smaller CubeSats. Read more.

Attitude Determination and Control System for Micro Satellites

The READY-100HP from Elecnor Deimos is an ADCS System that is designed to provide high accuracy and precision attitude control for 6U and 16U CubeSats. It has a pointing accuracy of less than 0.05 degrees and a pointing stability of less than 0.017 degrees/sec. It has an attitude estimation accuracy of less than 0.025 degrees and an agility of 1 degree/sec. It has a mass of 10 Kg and has a High Precision version that meets the requirements of demanding Earth Observation missions. Read more.

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Note: This list has been compiled based on user activity on SATNow. To ensure that we cover the whole range of ADCS systems we limited the number of products from each category and company. The listed products are shown in random order and are grouped by category.