METHOD OF SPACECRAFT ORIENTATION IN TRACK SYSTEM OF COORDINATES WITH GROUND OBJECT OBSERVATION HARDWARE DRIVE AND DEVICE TO THIS END Russian patent published in 2013 - IPC B64G1/24 G01C19/00 

FIELD: transport.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to control over spacecraft angular flight, particularly, to spacecraft orientation gyro systems equipped with ground object observation system in near-earth orbit. Operation of such spacecraft required lateral shift of ground object image, for example, in observation hardware focus plane caused by daily rotation. For this, spacecraft is turned to track route angle by cosine law at circular frequency equal to orbital angular velocity. In compliance with this method, along with spacecraft course turn, it is turned through track angle of bank by sine angle of the same frequency. This makes instrumental track plane formed by bank and course angle turned relative to line of orbit nodes through constant angle equal to track angle amplitude. Therefore in steady state mode power is consumed only for angular stabilisation to counteract external disturbance effects. Turn of observation hardware bank observing line relative to orbital system of coordinates toward observed ground objects is performed with allowance for current program bank turn angle. Proposed device comprises appropriate instrumentation for implementation of above described method.

EFFECT: ruled out departures of spacecraft course from the plane of orbital system of coordinates, decreased power consumption.

2 cl, 4 dwg