--- On Thu, 18/8/11, Phil Karn karn@philkarn.net wrote:
For attitude control, I think control moment gyros are the way to go. (They're somewhat different from momentum wheels in that they operate at constant speed.) This is largely a mechanical problem: designing flywheels and motors that are small, lightweight, can store a lot of angular momentum, draw minimal power, and be precisely moved around to control the direction and magnitude of the overall spacecraft angular momentum vector. We'd still need magnetorquing coils to dump excess momentum, but the cm gyros would provide quick and accurate control of spacecraft attitude.
There is discussion of the means of stabilsation and the use of 2.4 and 5 GHz on a future satellite in the Positioning and Experiments sections of the Forum at http://tinyurl.com/RadioSkaf
73 Trevor M5AKA