Rendering of a Pelican satellite. Credit: Planet Labs
SALT LAKE CITY – Veoware successfully demonstrated its mini control moment gyroscopes (miniCMGs) for the first time aboard a Planet Pelican Earth-observation satellite.
During tests conducted earlier this month, a Planet Pelican satellite conducted a 30-degree roll maneuver with four reaction wheels and two miniCMGs. The maneuver was completed about 2.5 times faster than was possible with reaction wheels alone.
“To the best of our knowledge, it was the first time CMGs that size have provided operational agility on a commercial small satellite,” a Veoware release reads. “Agile pointing of this kind has long been the preserve of large and expensive satellites. Seeing it work on a small commercial platform opens it to a whole new class of mission.”
The Pelican also performed three back-to-back repositioning slews of about 23 degrees. Each time, the satellite turned in less than seven seconds and settled within a half degree of its target in about four seconds.
