Redundant energy storage device having momentum wheels

摘要

The invention provides a momentum wheel energy storage device for a spacecraft or satellite. The device has six wheels whose axes of rotation are parallel to edges of a tetrahedron. It thus provides redundancy which makes it possible simultaneously to store energy and to generate an arbitrary net angular momentum, even in the event of one of the wheels failing. The failure of one wheel can be accommodated without degrading operation, with energy storage being optimal regardless of the angular momentum to be generated. The failure of two wheels can be accommodated but operation may then be in degraded mode. The invention makes it possible to limit the number of momentum wheels used in a device that can accommodate failures.