Past technical advances in small satellites have opened up new markets for small satellites beyond their initial technology demonstration platforms. These markets include military science and technology; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; remote site communications; polling of unattended sensors; high-resolution Earth observations; and Landsat-class environmental monitoring, and are estimated to potentially result in a $500 million annual market. Our miniature, high torque, low-vibration reaction wheel will enable higher performance for many of these future applications. NASA is interested in reducing the mass and cost while maximizing the scientific return for future NASA missions. Small satellites are an excellent alternative for achieving these goals. However, many technologies that have been developed for larger spacecraft are not applicable to small and nano satellites. To bridge this gap, NASA plans to support innovations in propulsion, power, and guidance, and navigation systems for low-cost small spacecraft. One of the key enabling technologies is attitude control mechanisms. Our miniature, high torque, low-vibration reaction wheel promises to meet the needs of small and nano satellites for a high torque, continuous, low mass, low-cost, satellite attitude control.
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