Magnetic Bearings for Small Satellite CMG's and Other Miniature Spacecraft Mechanisms

NASA sees an increasing role in the near future for small satellites in the 5-100 kg size range. A potentially disruptive technology, small satellites, which are low cost and can be delivered in months, are being eyed as platforms for rapid demonstration of new technologies and even important science missions. From NASA's recently launched PharmaSat sub-10 kg free-flying nanosatellite, which has just successfully completed an experiment that could help scientists better understand how effectively drugs work in space, to potential future missions like CRESPO, a ~100 kg microsatellite that will use a hyperspectral imager to monitor the condition of more than 50% of the Earth's coral reefs over a 2-year period, NASA is counting on these small satellites to deliver. A miniature PMB technology is widely applicable to small mechanisms and will allow for a greater technological payoff with the next generation of small satellite missions. Honeybee Robotics is developing a small, modular control moment gyroscope (CMG) technology for use on small satellites. The life limiting and power driving aspect of this technology as with any CMG or reaction wheel (RW), are the rotor bearings which operate at 12,000 rpm. Honeybee Robotics proposes to develop a miniature passive magnetic bearing (PMB) for small satellite ACS components such as CMGs and RWs. This cross-cutting technology can also be applied to any small mechanism that might benefit from low parasitic torque, low induced vibration (IV), and long life. PMB technology for small satellites will allow for a step increase in life for their ACS subsystems. Enabling a small satellite mission lifetime of 15+ years rather than 1-3 years is a game-changing development that will alter the way mission planners think about small satellite capabilities. Prototype units will be integrated with our Tiny Operationally Responsive CMG (TORC) technology to demonstrate the relative merits compared to traditional ball bearings.

At MILSPACE 2009 Karyn Hayes-Ryan, Associate Chief Operating Officer of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) offered that CubeSats might be the next transforming innovation in space development primarily because they offer a means for rapidly maturing new technologies to ultimately be used by larger NRO intelligence gathering satellites. The vision of CubeSats as technology demonstration platforms will only be realized when their data downlink capability matches their data acquisition capability. At the moment, CubeSat communications are extremely limited. To boost communications, they need more power and they need to focus and aim that power in the form of directed transmissions. Beyond the "CubeSat as a test and demonstration platform" model, the information developed under the proposed study would inform Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission planners considering the use of small agile satellites in the 3 to 50 kg range. A miniature PMB technology would be scalable for both small and large satellite ACS; allowing fast, low-cost, on-demand ACS development with long life, lower power and reduced vibration signatures.

Small satellites which are low cost and can be delivered in months (as opposed to years), are being eyed as platforms for rapid demonstration of new technologies (e.g., new propulsion, communications, power collection and MEMS technologies) and even important science missions (e.g., earth and space climate observation, biological sciences). A miniature PMB technology is both cross-cutting and game-changing as it can be utilized in just about any small, high-speed mechanism on a satellite such as CMGs, RWs, and other instrumentation as well as increase the expected lifetime of small satellite missions by an order of magnitude. From NASA's recently launched PharmaSat sub-10 kg free-flying nanosatellite, which has just successfully completed an experiment that could help scientists better understand how effectively drugs work in space, to potential future missions like the Reef Ecosystem Spectro-Photometric Observatory (CRESPO), a ~100 kg microsatellite that will use a hyperspectral imager (HSI) to monitor the condition of more than 50% of the Earth's coral reefs over a 2-year period, NASA is counting on these small satellites to deliver.

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