Patent ID: 6702234
Filing Date: 2004-03-09
Classification: B64G

Abstract:
An attitude control system for a zero-momentum spacecraft, the system comprising:a zero-momentum attitude control system operable to control spacecraft attitude utilizing data received from one or more attitude sensors, and an inertial measurement unit; a gyroless attitude control system operable to control spacecraft attitude without receiving data from the inertial measurement unit; a redundancy management system operable to monitor the inertial measurement unit to detect faults and to reconfigure the inertial measurement unit if a fault is detected and operable to determine when an inertial measurement unit fault is resolved; and a controller operable to automatically switch the spacecraft from the zero-momentum attitude control to the gyroless attitude control when a fault in the inertial measurement unit is detected and to automatically switch the spacecraft from the gyroless attitude control to the zero momentum control upon resolution of the fault.