SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SPACECRAFT ATTITUDE CONTROL

摘要

A momentum management system (10) for spacecraft attitude control. The momentum management system (10) includes a rotor (14) that provides control torques to a spacecraft. A drive (25) is provided to rotate the rotor (14), and a torque generation device (27) to impart torque to the rotor (14). A gimbal assembly (12) couples the drive (25) to the rotor (14). The gimbal assembly (12) has a spinning gimbal (18), and attaches to the drive (25) and the rotor (14) through the use of flexure joints (20). These flexure joints (20) permit the rotor (14) to tilt in two axes relative to a drive shaft (22), through a range of angles from about 0 degrees to about 7 degrees under the control of the torque generation device (27).