Spacecraft Momentum Control Systems

With space-industry professionals and university students, this book offers a practical technical reference for seeking to understand the state of the art in spacecraft momentum control systems. The focus is control moment gyroscope (CMG) technology, but general principles of momentum control―for example, through reaction wheels, magnetic torque actuation, and other means―are presented. These key topics are treated in several contexts: systems engineering and spacecraft architecture, attitude control and dynamics, and mission operations. The subject matter is developed with theoretical rigor and in terms of practical implementation in flight hardware software.

This book is the first to address CMG technology in depth, let alone from a practitioner’s perspective. It is also timely, given the rise of commercial Earth imaging, the imminent need for high-torque manipulation of satellites for servicing and assembly, the advances in privately built spacecraft (including small satellites), and the growing popularity of the subject matter in academia over the past two decades. The current edition includes exercises suitable for upper-level undergraduate courses and graduate-level courses in spacecraft attitude dynamics and control, spacecraft design, and space systems engineering.

This second edition provides more applications, attitude control, momentum and nutation dumping, isolation, system identification, systems engineering, bearings, and structures as well as more in depth discussions of equations of motion, as well as the numerics and complexity associated with generalized inverses that are used for steering algorithms.

Frederick A. Leve Program Officer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida in 2010. While at the University of Florida, he received the IAF Silver Hermann Oberth Medal and the AIAA Abe Zarem Award for Astronautics. Currently, he runs a basic research program in dynamical systems and control theory and leads the Autonomy Working Group. He has published many papers in the area of attitude dynamics and control, specifically with respect to momentum control systems and also performs research in under-actuated control, fault tolerant control, control allocation, analytical mechanics, and system identification. Dr. Leve is a recipient of the 2014 AFRL Early Career Award.

Brian J. Hamilton Former Engineering Fellow at Honeywell Aerospace, received a BSEE with Honors from the University of Illinois, 1976. Mr. Hamilton has 42 years of experience at Honeywell (formerly, Sperry) and has participated in the development of CMG technology since its infancy. In later years, his research focus has been on CMG array control and steering, and the general application of momentum systems to agile spacecraft attitude control. Other areas of specialty include nonlinear modeling, controls design, system optimization and active magnetic suspension. Mr. Hamilton holds 12 patents.

Mason A. Peck Professor of Astronautics at Cornell University, received his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2001. He has worked as an aerospace engineer since 1994 and has been on the faculty at Cornell since 2004. From late 2011 through early 2014, he was NASA's Chief Technologist. In that role, he served as the agency's chief strategist for technology investment and prioritization and advocate for innovation in aeronautics and space technology. His research lab focuses on fundamental research in space technology that can be advanced through flight experiments. Examples include Violet, a nanosatellite for demonstrating CMG steering laws, and KickSat, the world's first crowdfunded spacecraft. Dr. Peck holds 19 patents in the USA and the E.U. and has over 100 academic publications. He received the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal in 2014.

William Bialke Former Chief Engineer of Ithaco Space Systems, received a BSME with Honors from North Dakota State University in 1983. Mr Bialke has devoted his entire career to the development and manufacture of reaction wheels used on over 250 spacecraft, starting with Honeywell, and later as the architect of the Ithaco reaction wheel product line. He has written a number of papers on reaction wheel design tradeoffs, micro-vibration disturbance sources and bearing failure modes. He was lead investigator of a root cause analysis of on-orbit reaction wheel failures spanning 16 years, which led to a discovery of electrical discharge as the primary contributor to anomalies and failures in reaction wheel bearings. Mr. Bialke holds 6 patents.