Patent ID: 8185262

Claim:
A system for determining and controlling an inertial attitude of a spin axis of an artificial satellite, the system comprising: an optical sensor adapted to determine a square of a first radius (R 1 2 ) of a track of a first astronomical object, a square of a second radius (R 2 2 ) of a track of a second astronomical object, and a square of a third radius (R 3 2 ) of a track of a third astronomical object; at least one torque-producing device that is adapted to provide precession to the artificial satellite; a partitioned power source, each portion thereof being electrically-coupled to each of the at least one torque-producing devices; and an inertial attitude processor that is adapted to determine the inertial attitude of the spin axis based on the square of the first radius (R 1 2 ), the square of the second radius (R 2 2 ), and the square of the third radius (R 3 2 ) and to control at least one of an amount and a direction of current flowing through at least one of the torque-producing devices, to correct the inertial attitude of the spin axis or a spin vector normal thereto.