An attitude control system includes one or more control moment gyro pairs, with gyros of individual of the pairs being counter-rotated to rotate the rotation axes of flywheels of the gyros of a gyro pair in opposite direction. The flywheels of a gyro pair may be in paddle configuration, with the rotation axes of the flywheels rotating in the counter-rotation through separate planes as the gyros are rotated. The rotation of the gyros of a gyro pair may be accomplished by coupling both of the gyros to a servo motor with suitable coupling gears, or by using independent servos for each gyro. The counter-rotation of gyros of an individual pair produces a resultant torque about a fixed global axis, such as the axis of a flight vehicle of which the attitude control system is a part. Further control may be accomplished for example by varying rotation speeds of the flywheels.

A three-loop inertial stabilization system with active jitter suppression and optical control to reduce line-of-sight (LOS) jitter based on platform induced motion in cantilevered gimbal systems. A first loop comprises at least one rate sensor, a Kalman state estimator, and a rate to angle module. A second loop comprises a mirror system, a focal plane and centroid processing module, an open-loop closed loop selector, a signal combiner and a loop integrator. A third loop comprises a fast steering mirror, offload module and at least one gimbal motor driver, wherein the three loops suppress the jitter of the cantilevered gimbal system.

This invention presents a unique propulsion and maneuver-control system for crafts and devices. This invention develops its desired thrust force vectors from the vectors sum of centrifugal force vectors of rotating masses and their controlled gyroscopic force vectors. Also shown are applications of this propulsion and maneuver-control system for future VTOL-Hovering-Flying crafts, Scooters, Surfboards, marine/submarine-crafts, earth, moon, mars satellites disks and space-crafts. This invention has great potentials of creating new businesses in aerospace markets, all planets' weather modification business, bring people of the world closer together and perform critical tasks of modify trajectories to prevent run-away asteroids from hitting the earth.

Reaction wheel assemblies having relatively compact and lightweight form factors (referred to as “small scale” RWAs) are disclosed. Such small scale RWAs are well-suited for deployment onboard relatively small satellites, but are not restricted to usage within any particular device or platform. In one embodiment, the small scale RWA includes a primary support platform to which a rotor is coupled for rotation about a spin axis. An axially-expanded face-to-face (DF) duplex bearing pair is disposed between the rotor shaft and the support platform. The DF duplex bearing pair includes first and second rolling element bearings positioned around an intermediate portion of the rotor shaft. The first and second rolling element bearings have first and second bearing load lines, respectively, which are spaced by a tailored bearing load line separation (SLL).

The present disclosure relates to an axial flux motor for a reaction wheel, and method of using and making the same. The motor includes a stator and a rotor. The stator comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) including a first motor coil. The rotor is coupled to a first ring-shaped magnet having an alternating pole arrangement. In a further embodiment, the rotor includes permanent magnets, and the stator PCB includes a first motor coil, and a first high thermal conductivity element.

The present disclosure relates to an axial flux motor for a reaction wheel, and method of using and making the same. The motor includes a stator and a rotor. The stator comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) including a first motor coil. The rotor is coupled to a first ring-shaped magnet having an alternating pole arrangement. In a further embodiment, the rotor includes permanent magnets, and the stator PCB includes a first motor coil, and a first high thermal conductivity element.

Attitude of a vehicle may be controlled using movable mass. The movable mass may move inside a vehicle or its outline, outside of the vehicle or its outline, inside-to-outside and/or outside-to-inside of the vehicle or its outline, or any combination thereof. The movable mass may be a solid, liquid, and/or gas. When the center-of-mass of the vehicle is moved relative to the line-of-action of applied forces such as thrust, drag, or lift, a torque can be generated for attitude control or for other purposes as a matter of design choice. In the case of external movable masses that extend from the vehicle or its outline, when operating in endoatmospheric flight, or general travel through a fluid, aerodynamic forces from the atmosphere or general fluid forces may further be leveraged to control the attitude of the vehicle (e.g., aerodynamic flaps).

Attitude of a vehicle may be controlled using movable mass. The movable mass may move inside a vehicle or its outline, outside of the vehicle or its outline, inside-to-outside and/or outside-to-inside of the vehicle or its outline, or any combination thereof. The movable mass may be a solid, liquid, and/or gas. When the center-of-mass of the vehicle is moved relative to the line-of-action of applied forces such as thrust, drag, or lift, a torque can be generated for attitude control or for other purposes as a matter of design choice. In the case of external movable masses that extend from the vehicle or its outline, when operating in endoatmospheric flight, or general travel through a fluid, aerodynamic forces from the atmosphere or general fluid forces may further be leveraged to control the attitude of the vehicle (e.g., aerodynamic flaps).

A device for determining an attitude of a satellite is disclosed, the satellite having an attitude control system comprising a gyroscopic actuator including a flywheel mounted so as to be rotatable around an axis of rotation and carried by a gimbal articulated to rotate around an axis of rotation. The device includes an attitude sensor configured to measure the attitude of the satellite, a position sensor configured to measure the angular position of the gimbal around its axis of rotation, a speed sensor configured to measure the rotational speed of the flywheel, and a processing circuit configured to determine the attitude of the satellite by using the measurement of the angular position of the gimbal, the measurement of the rotational speed of the flywheel, and the measurement of the attitude of the satellite.

An attitude control module is described for providing propellant-free attitude control and momentum desaturation to a spacecraft. The attitude control module includes at least one solar sail comprising a reflective surface for reflecting solar photons; and at least one robotic arm coupled to the at least one solar sail, said at least one robotic arm comprising at least 4 degrees of freedom for positioning and orienting the at least one solar sail relative to the spacecraft. A corresponding method for operating the attitude control module to unload excess momentum from a spacecraft is also described.