Session
Poster Session 3
Location
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Abstract
The rapid growth of Earth observation demands cost-effective strategies, such as integrating COTS components and accelerating deployment. A key factor in mission efficiency is spacecraft agility, which enables faster reorientation, improved target tracking, and optimized data collection. A game-changing advancement is the revival of Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs) as cost-effective, high-performance actuators. Once constrained by high costs, recent manufacturing innovations and new providers have made CMGs more accessible. With superior torque efficiency and capability, CMGs greatly enhance agility, enabling faster reorientation and improved data collection compared to conventional reaction wheels. This paper presents a comparative case study demonstrating the advantages of an agile satellite using a CMG cluster in an Earth observation mission. Equipped with a push-broom scanning sensor, the satellite achieves faster reorientation, reducing slewing time and increasing scan frequency. The CMG cluster is managed using Veoware steering control logic, an efficient steering algorithm for CMG cluster's actuation. Three configurations are evaluated: a CMG pyramid cluster, a blended array with a Scissored Pair of CMG and a classical Reaction wheel pyramid cluster. The study highlights CMGs’ potential to enhance agility, improving mission efficiency and expanding data collection for next-generation Earth observation satellites.
Document Type
Event
Next-Generation Earth Observation: Agile Satellites With CMG Cluster for Enhanced Coverage
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
The rapid growth of Earth observation demands cost-effective strategies, such as integrating COTS components and accelerating deployment. A key factor in mission efficiency is spacecraft agility, which enables faster reorientation, improved target tracking, and optimized data collection. A game-changing advancement is the revival of Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs) as cost-effective, high-performance actuators. Once constrained by high costs, recent manufacturing innovations and new providers have made CMGs more accessible. With superior torque efficiency and capability, CMGs greatly enhance agility, enabling faster reorientation and improved data collection compared to conventional reaction wheels. This paper presents a comparative case study demonstrating the advantages of an agile satellite using a CMG cluster in an Earth observation mission. Equipped with a push-broom scanning sensor, the satellite achieves faster reorientation, reducing slewing time and increasing scan frequency. The CMG cluster is managed using Veoware steering control logic, an efficient steering algorithm for CMG cluster's actuation. Three configurations are evaluated: a CMG pyramid cluster, a blended array with a Scissored Pair of CMG and a classical Reaction wheel pyramid cluster. The study highlights CMGs’ potential to enhance agility, improving mission efficiency and expanding data collection for next-generation Earth observation satellites.
