Method of determining and controlling the inertial attitude of a spinning, artificial satellite and systems therefor

A pointing and/or tracking system, comprising:

• a spinning artificial satellite;
• and
• a launch mechanism adapted to launch the artificial satellite so as to spin about a spin axis;
• wherein the artificial satellite includes:
• an optical sensor having a field-of-view parallel or substantially parallel to the spin axis;
• and
• at least one of a microwave tracking device, a radiation-tracking device, a microwave-pointing device, and a radiation-pointing device, each of said devices having a field-of-view oriented generally opposite the field-of-view of the optical sensor.

A navigation system for providing relative or absolute location and navigation data, the system comprising:

• a spinning artificial satellite;
• and
• a launch mechanism adapted to launch the artificial satellite so as to spin about a spin axis at a spin rate;
• wherein the artificial satellite includes:
• an optical sensor having a field-of-view parallel or substantially parallel to the spin axis;
• and
• a navigation data device having a field-of-view oriented generally opposite the field-of-view of the optical sensor.

A system for controlling an inertial attitude of a non-spinning artificial satellite, the system comprising:

• an optical sensor adapted to determine relative locations of a first astronomical object, a second astronomical object, and a third astronomical object;
• at least one torque-producing device that is adapted to provide angular motion to the artificial satellite;
• a partitioned power source, each portion thereof being electrically-coupled to each of the at least one torque-producing devices;
• and
• an inertial attitude processor that is adapted to control at least one of an amount and a direction of current flowing through at least one of the torque-producing devices, to correct maintain the system so that first astronomical object, a second astronomical object, and a third astronomical object are maintained at their relative locations.

A system for determining and controlling an inertial attitude of a spin axis of an artificial satellite, the system comprising:

• an optical sensor adapted to determine a square of a first radius (R12) of a track of a first astronomical object, a square of a second radius (R22) of a track of a second astronomical object, and a square of a third radius (R32) of a track of a third astronomical object;
• at least one torque-producing device that is adapted to provide precession to the artificial satellite;
• a partitioned power source, each portion thereof being electrically-coupled to each of the at least one torque-producing devices;
• and
• an inertial attitude processor that is adapted to determine the inertial attitude of the spin axis based on the square of the first radius (R12), the square of the second radius (R22), and the square of the third radius (R32) and to control at least one of an amount and a direction of current flowing through at least one of the torque-producing devices, to correct the inertial attitude of the spin axis or a spin vector normal thereto.