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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7980514 | Solar array momentum control One embodiment of the invention includes a spacecraft. The spacecraft comprises at least one solar array panel comprising an array of solar cell sections. Each of the solar cell sections can be configured to generate electrical power from received solar radiation. T... | 07/19/2011 |
| 7624949 | Satellite provided with means for countering solar pressure A satellite intended to travel in a constellation of satellites in an area of space in which the dominant disturbing forces and torques are for the most part caused by differential solar pressure between the satellites of the constellation comprises a satellite stru... | 12/01/2009 |
| 7370566 | Complimentary retrograde/prograde satellite constellation A method for sensing and monitoring ICBM threats using a constellation of earth orbiting satellites. The method includes arranging a first and a second plurality of threat sensing satellites in earth orbit. The first plurality is selected to have a first prograde or... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7343228 | Transient cancellation technique for spacecraft solar wing stepping A method and apparatus for controlling a plurality of solar panels of a spacecraft is described. The method comprises the steps of providing a first step command to a first solar panel, and providing a second step command to a second solar panel at a time of a trans... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7270304 | Isolating positioning boom for instrument platform A positioning boom disposed between a space-based observatory platform and its instrument payload provides thermal and dynamic isolation as well as fine pointing and momentum control. The inventive system isolates a sensitive payload from a warm, dynamically noisy s... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7219860 | Spacecraft including control vanes having variable absorptive, reflective and emissive characteristics A spacecraft including control vanes for controlling the pointing direction of the spacecraft by providing a variable absorptive, reflective, emissive and/or transmissive properties. The control vanes provide a torque on the spacecraft to maintain the spacecraft poi... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7185856 | Method for controlling the attitude of an satellites in elliptic orbits using solar radiation pressure The present invention provides a method for the attitude control of satellites in elliptic orbits or satellites initially placed in circular orbits perturbed to elliptic orbits due to environmental disturbances. The method relies on the application of solar radiatio... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7143982 | Dynamic yaw steering method for spacecrafts A method for yaw steering a spacecraft including performing yaw steering of the spacecraft to have a yaw angle (ψ) for all sun elevation angles (β). The method further including smoothing a yaw steering motion for orbital position parameters (η) where high rotati... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7133815 | Method and system for balancing thrust demands In the control of spacecraft, thrusters must generate a commanded force or torque that is computed from the control algorithms in order to maintain a certain attitude or orbit. In general, there is an infinite number of solutions as to how the thrusters are fired in... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7104506 | Spacecraft disturbance trimming system A spacecraft comprises a main body; at least one elongated solar wing extending from the main body, defining a generally flat plane and comprising a pair of longitudinally extending side edges; at least one other component or structure extending from the main body a... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7051981 | Method for aligning a spacecraft Controlling the solar torque imposed on a spacecraft (10) in flight by providing a film (52) with variable absorptive, reflective, emissive and/or transmissive properties on the sun side of a thermal shield (50) of the spacecraft (10). As... | 05/30/2006 |
| 6921048 | Method and apparatus for minimizing solar array sun tracking disturbance by north and south solar array wing cancellation A method and system for minimizing the solar array sun tracking disturbance is disclosed. The method separates the North solar array wing stepping and South solar array wing stepping in time, and use the disturbance caused by one solar array wing to cancel the distu... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6921050 | Solar torque control using thin film directionally reflective, emissive, absorptive and transmissive surfaces Controlling the solar torque imposed on a spacecraft (10) in flight by providing a film (52) with variable absorptive, reflective, emissive and/or transmissive properties on the sun side of a thermal shield (50) of the spacecraft (10). As... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6726153 | Photon momentum transfer plane for asteroid, meteoroid, and comet orbit shaping A spacecraft docks with a spinning and/or rotating asteroid, meteoroid, comet, or other space object, utilizing a tether shaped in a loop and utilizing subvehicles appropriately to control loop instabilities. The loop is positioned about a portion of the asteroid an... | 04/27/2004 |
| 6689952 | Large membrane space structure and method for its deployment and expansion A large membrane space structure deployed and spanned by centrifugal force owing to the spin motion, contains a hub located at a central portion thereof and a sail including a plurality of petals attached to the hub by supports. Each of the petals has reg... | 02/10/2004 |
| 6622970 | Method and apparatus for autonomous solar navigation A method and apparatus for autonomous navigation for deep space missions using the sun as the reference body and determining the spacecraft orbit based on observations made on the sun using onboard instruments. Two types of observation data, the direction... | 09/23/2003 |
| 6609683 | Supporting structure for a solar sail of a satellite A supporting structure for a solar sail of a satellite is formed by support arms which are connected in a swiveling manner with a solar panel through unfolding joints, and a film is stretched between the support arms. A longitudinal connector is arranged ... | 08/26/2003 |
| 6588708 | Spacecraft methods and structures for acquiring and determining power-safe attitudes The present invention is directed to spacecraft that have, for any reason, lost the spacecraft's service attitude that permits it to carry out the service operations for which it was designed. The invention provides methods and structures for acquiring an... | 07/08/2003 |
| 6481671 | Spacecraft sunshield for use in performing solar torque balancing A spacecraft includes an articulating sunshield assembly that is capable of simultaneously performing thermal control functions and solar torque balancing for the spacecraft. The sunshield assembly includes a pair of shield members that can be controllabl... | 11/19/2002 |
| 6371413 | Artificial satellite equipped with generators of magnetic and aerodynamic moments and control process for such a satellite Orientation system and process of an artificial satellite in low orbit. Aerodynamic control surfaces producing rotations of the satellite by upper-layer atmosphere are combined along two axes to magnetic couplers (1, 2, 3) producing rotating movements alo... | 04/16/2002 |
| 6260806 | Method and apparatus for using a momentum bias to provide spacecraft attitude stabilization during an eclipse The attitude of a spacecraft is controlled during an eclipse without the dependence on auxiliary power by configuring the spacecraft so that it will receive solar power after solar eclipse is passed. The spacecraft is then oriented with respect to a sun l... | 07/17/2001 |
| 6194790 | Solar sail for power generation The space-based solar power generating system is comprised of a flexible thin film photovoltaic sheet supported as a sail in the solar wind. The solar wind provides pointing support, deployment support, and structure stiffness without a heavy backup struc... | 02/27/2001 |
| 6189835 | Apparatus for spacecraft angular momentum control through the use of reflective thermal blankets A spacecraft having a pair of asymmetrical side-mounted antennas that are designed to control the net angular momentum of the spacecraft over a twenty-four hour period. One of the side-mounted antennas is a dual surface antenna having a front surface that... | 02/20/2001 |
| 6164597 | Using reflected solar radiation pressure to provide stationkeeping maneuvering of a spacecraft Methods that provide stationkeeping maneuvering of a yaw steered spacecraft that orbits around a central body, such as the Earth, and experiences solar radiation pressure produced by the sun. The methods comprise the following steps. A spacecraft having a... | 12/26/2000 |
| 6138061 | Onboard orbit propagation using quaternions A method for controlling orbiting spacecraft uploads a plurality of parameters to an onboard processor, the parameters including a plurality of quaternion elements describing an inertial to orbit reference frame, and including radial position, radial velo... | 10/24/2000 |
| 6128556 | CMG control based on angular momentum to control satellite attitude Control moment gyros in an array are rotated to reorient a satellite. Gyro angle is selected from one of three values based upon whether the stored angular momentum for the desired angle is below a singularity free value, greater than the singularity free... | 10/03/2000 |
| 6102336 | Passive device for stabilizing the direction in which a spacecraft points A passive device for stabilizing the pointing direction of a spacecraft of the type comprising a pair of panels that are symmetrical about a gyroscopic stabilization axis, each panel having an auxiliary flap that is at least partially reflecting. Each of ... | 08/15/2000 |
| 6070833 | Methods for reducing solar array power variations while managing the system influences of operating with off-pointed solar wings Solar wing positioning methods are provided which favorably reduce seasonal variation of generated power in a satellite while simultaneously managing the composite system influence that off-pointed solar wing operation imposes on the satellite. The compos... | 06/06/2000 |
| 6062511 | Device for adjusting a solar panel on a spacecraft, and spacecraft equipped with such a device A device for angularly positioning a solar panel equipping a spacecraft such as a satellite, the panel being connected in hinged manner to the body of the spacecraft. The device comprises a heat-sensitive drive mechanism suitable for causing the panel to ... | 05/16/2000 |
| 6003817 | Actively controlled thermal panel and method therefor One or more deployable thermal panels (24, 28, 70) are actively controlled throughout the orbit of a satellite (20) to provide thermal dissipation. Adjusting the incident angle between the panel (24, 28, 70) and the sun and controlling the flow of fluid t... | 12/21/1999 |
| 5996942 | Autonomous solar torque management A method in accordance with this invention for maintaining a spacecraft in a desired orbital configuration, comprises the steps of: (a) recording a history of yaw momentum stored in momentum wheels; (b) estimating an average inertial torque and momentum o... | 12/07/1999 |
| 5934620 | Spacecraft sun-target steering about an arbitrary body axis A spacecraft traveling in a volume of space receiving radiation from a radiation source and having a spacecraft body having a first axis of symmetry, X, a second axis of symmetry, Y, and a third axis of symmetry, Z. The spacecraft body rotates about a rot... | 08/10/1999 |
| 5895014 | Satellite solar array and method of biasing to reduce seasonal output power fluctuations Existing satellite solar arrays are deployed perpendicular to the satellite so that they rotate to track the daily movement of the sun to increase the solar array's' output power. In the present invention, the solar arrays are biased by a fixed amount awa... | 04/20/1999 |
| 5887827 | Method for producing extreme microgravity in extended volumes An apparatus and method for use thereof in the creating of a nanogravity environment substantially throughout a working volume sufficient for performing a desired operation and existing for a length of time sufficient for performing the desired operation ... | 03/30/1999 |
| 5850992 | Method for controlling the pitch attitude of a satellite by means of solar radiation pressure A satellite embodying at least one surface intended mainly for exposure to solar radiation and extending away from the satellite in a predetermined direction (Y), an on board computer having connected thereto an attitude sensing system, an orbit control s... | 12/22/1998 |
| 5833176 | Bowed solar array A constrained solar array (24) for a satellite (20) and method for making the same are disclosed. The solar array (24) includes a superstructure (30) with solar cells (80) mounted thereon to provide power to a main satellite body (22) and instruments moun... | 11/10/1998 |
| 5826828 | Sun/earth acquisition without thrusters Methods for performing attitude maneuvers of a spinning satellite without the use of thrusters, or with a minimal number of thrusters, are disclosed. The attitude maneuvers are primarily achieved through the use of gimballed momentum wheels and solar wing... | 10/27/1998 |
| 5806801 | Method and system for formationkeeping between orbiting spacecraft by varying their ballistic coefficients The present invention provides a method and system for formationkeeping between two or more orbiting spacecraft by controlling the surface area of the spacecraft facing the direction of perturbative forces acting on the spacecraft. The actual position of ... | 09/15/1998 |
| 5794891 | Method of controlling the attitude control for satellites on an orbit inclined relative to the equator The attitude of a satellite placed on a non-heliosynchronous earth orbit in a plane that is inclined relative to the equatorial plane of the earth is controlled for efficient use of solar panels and radiators. The satellite has a structure, solar panels a... | 08/18/1998 |
| 5775645 | Controlled-emission solar tabs for attitude solar sailing Solar tabs are provided which have thermal emissivity and absorptivity properties designed to increase the attitude-control torques that can be generated with rotatable wings in a spacecraft. These increased torques enhance the ability to offset attitude-... | 07/07/1998 |
