Topic summary
Attitude control system
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Spacecraft attitude determination and control.
The broader integrated field that studies the combination of sensors, actuators and algorithms is called guidance, navigation and control, which also involves non-attitude concepts, such as position determination and navigation. Spacecraft generally have an attitude determination and control system (ADCS), which includes both sensors and actuators. However, budget satellites (such as some cubesats), may elect for simpler attitude control systems (ACS) which use passive techniques, including the yo-yo de-spin technique and permanent magnets to control the attitude of the satellite.