The Arrangement and Sizing of Situation Control Thrusters on the Spacecraft Body

One of the most important steps in designing spacecraft is designing their control system. There are many types of control systems, often including electric thrusters, cold gas thrusters, and monopropellant thrusters. Monopropellant thrusters generate more propulsion than other thrusters and are more cost-effective for short space missions. In this study, arrangement of 12 hydrazine monopropellant thrusters on a spacecraft was investigated. Based on the required torque, twelve thrusters were used to control the situation of the spacecraft, so that each axis is controlled by four thrusters and each thruster must provide the propulsion force equal to 10 N. For this purpose, 10 N hydrazine monopropellant thrusters were used. Finally, three different arrangements of thrusters were presented. The third type of arrangement was selected due to its independence from changes in the space center of mass of the spacecraft and also zero slope of the thrusters relative to the main axes.