Attitude Control Hardware for Operationally Responsive Space Platforms in LEO

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Small Satellites (or Smallsats, in short) are increasingly recognized for their versatility and efficienty. Inparticular, their applications are now found for data collection that could directly benefit both the OperationallyResponsive Space (ORS) intelligence goals as well as commercial sector's high revenue ambitions. Currently,all small satellites rely on reaction wheels to achieve 3-axis control and increasing the agility of small satelliteswhile using reaction wheels is significantly hampered by the high mass and power trade-off when usingreaction wheels. Control Moment Gyroscope is the unique alternative actuation mechanism that provides thehosting satellite the increased agility while requiring less power and mass compared to reaction wheels whichis invaluable in a smallsat application. Despite this crucial advantage and its wide usage in larger commercialand intelligence satellites, there is no proper Control Moment Gyroscope available in the market for this classof small satellites.The proposed research is to develop a Control Moment Gyroscope hardware suitable for the microsatelliteclass of satellites (<150 kg). We propose to design, develop and engineer a prototype control momentgyroscope (CMG) capable of providing > 100 mNm torque, >200 mNms angular momentum, while consuming<7 W power and mass < 700 grams. This will allow spacecraft agile maneuvering and result in ground highvalue target frequent revisits as well as space object tracking, within considerably lower launch cost.The project aims to provide innovative space product to broaden applications of small satellites in both civilianand military applications by developing a highly accurate, agile control actuator. In long run, the project is tobuild on MSCI and York University's Attitude Control System (ACS) research to further develop advancedattitude hardware for advanced satellite design.