Attitude control device for a satellite and method for controlling the attitude of a satellite

An attitude control method for a satellite, the satellite having an attitude control apparatus with at least three electric motors and a controller, wherein the at least three electric motors are arranged in such a way that a torque may be generated with any orientation of an associated torque vector, and the at least three electric motors being configured to generate at least a torque of 0.09 newton-meters per kilogram of net mass, wherein the controller is configured to drive the at least three electric motors based on a torque controller, and wherein the torque controller is configured to operate said at least three electric motors in a rest state where rotors of said at least three electric motors do not rotate and to operate the at least three electric motors outside the rest state only when an acceleration torque and a braking torque are required in order to execute an agile attitude change maneuver, wherein the agile attitude change maneuver has a rotation rate of greater than 1 degree per second, the method comprising the following steps:

• receiving a target orientation of the satellite;
• calculating with the controller an acceleration torque and a braking torque based on a comparison between the target orientation and an actual orientation of the satellite;
• and
• generating the calculated acceleration torque and the calculated braking torque by driving the at least three electric motors with the controller.