Combined stationkeeping and momentum management

摘要

There is provided a method and system for simultaneous north-south stationkeeping and 3-axis momentum management for a geosynchronous orbiting spacecraft. The spacecraft has a first thruster, a second thruster, and at least three momentum wheels mounted on-board the spacecraft. The first and second thrusters are mounted adjacent to a north and a south face of the spacecraft, respectively, on an anti-earth side of the spacecraft and are aligned to produce thrust vectors slightly off from the spacecraft's center of mass. The first and second thrusters are independently fired at predetermined positions along the geosynchronous orbital path of the spacecraft. The thrust vectors provide attitude and orbital adjustment needed to correct north-south orbital position deviation and provide torque needed to desaturate the stored angular momentum of the momentum wheels.