CHAMP attitude and Orbit Control System

The small satellite mission CHAMP was initiated by the German Aerospace Cen ter (DLR) as a lead project for the East German space industry in order to consolidate their national and international position. After a short survey over the mission goals the main requirements on the Attitude and Orbit Con trol System (AOCS) of the satellite will be outlined. Furthermore the techn ical solution will be described which fulfils best the requirements on the AOCS. For that a functional block diagram is given, which shows the sensors and actuators in use. In the following the operational AOCS Modes and the sensor data processing up to the generation of actuator commands are descri bed. Finally this paper outlines that the system is currently in the test s tatus and that the system has been realised under strong cost and schedule constraints. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.