Goodrich Corporation’s micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) gyros that were used in the satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) named the Earth Explorer Cryostat-2 to monitor changes in the ice cover of the earth have cleared the in-orbit testing.
The SiREUS rate sensor incorporated gyros were the first ultra small MEMS devices from the ESA to detect the rate of rotation of the satellite.
Daniele Temperanza, of Control Systems Division of ESA, commented that the sensor is designed by a new idea and the space experiment was necessary to determine its viability. The accuracy of ice cover measurements by the satellite is based on the orbital position and high efficiency of the routing sensor, he added.
Three 1cm2 gyros from Atlantic Inertial Systems, a subsidiary of Goodrich, were fixed to the center of the SiREUS rate sensor. The gyro weighs 750 grams and consumes only six watts power, and is the upgraded version of existing units employed globally for the stability control of automotive electronics.
The technology was developed with three UK-based firms, Systems Engineering and Assessment (SEA), Selex Galileo and AIS for use in the space mission.