Micro-wheels for attitude control and energy storage in small satellites

A new type of energy storage and attitude control device is proposed and its projected performance is described. The device, nicknamed the "micro-wheel," can be built from silicon wafers using standard MEMS fabrication techniques. The micro-wheels enable small satellite missions by integrating energy storage and attitude control into structures so small that they could be incorporated into a satellite's walls. Typical dimensions are anywhere from a couple of millimeters in diameter to a couple of hundred millimeters in diameter. For a 100-mm diameter wheel the projected momentum density is 9 Nm sec/kg and the energy is 14 W hr/kg.