Research Summaries

Back Agile Attitude Control Subsystem for Nanosats Based on Control Moment Gyroscopes: Flight Prototype

Fiscal Year 2009
Division Graduate School of Engineering & Applied Science
Department Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Investigator(s) Romano, Marcello
Sponsor National Reconnaissance Office (DoD)
Summary The objective of the proposed research is to design, develop and test a fully functional flight prototype for a CubeSat attitude control subsystem based on miniaturized Control Moment Gyroscopes actuators (CMGs), This innovative subsystem will enable agile attitude slewing and accurate pointing/tracking for spacecraft made of multiple (2-5+) CubeSat units, These attitude control capabilities, currently unavailable for CubeSats, are essential for several critical missions (e.g., Earth imaging, optical communications and situational awareness applications), The proposed attitude control subsystem is entirely contained in the volume of less than 1 liter and has a total mass of less than 1 kilogram. The design specifications include a 3 sigma pointing accuracy <0.01 deg, maximum torque >10 mNm along each axis, momentum storage >24 mNms along each axis, 0.4 W typical power need, 1.2 W peak power need at max torque. The proposed attitude control subsystem uses miniaturized Control Moment Gyroscopes, CMGs, which have been used for decades for large agile high-performance spacecraft, are advantageous versus reaction wheels for having a higher torque/power and torque/volume ratio. The deliverables include a fully functional engineering development unit (EDU) at scale 1:1 of the attitude control subsystem, performance tests and control software. The EDU is considered to be a prototype for a flight unit. The proposed research is intended to contribute to the following three functional capabilities among the NRO priorities, by enabling the development of new spacecraft concepts (as Tinyscope): Persistent Surveillance, Monitor Known Threats, Innovative Capabilities.
Keywords
Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal