GNC

Guidance, Navigation, and Control

The Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) subsystem is responsible for determining and controlling the orbit and attitude of the satellite at all times that closely follows the designed navigation path for the satellite. This subsystem also executes any needed control actuations made by the satellite.

The GN&C subsystem uses guidance algorithms to determine the desired trajectory of the satellite from its current location to its desired location. The navigation of the satellite occurs by processing the sensor data from other subsystems to determine the satellite’s current position, velocity, and attitude. The satellite is then controlled by magnetorquers and thrusters to execute the guidance commands.

Pictured above are the magnetic torque coils used to rotate MR-SAT to execute guidance commands.