ESA GNC Conference Papers Repository

Global warming is driven by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important greenhouse gas produced by human activity. In this context, France started the project MICROCARB to monitor the exchanges between CO2 sources and sinks, their variability and sensitivity to climatic events. In order to meet the scientific objectives of the mission, specific pointing modes requiring a challenging agility were defined. The cost and planning constraints have naturally led the CNES to choose a MYRIADE platform even though this platform was only designed for geocentric pointing. Therefore, the generic bus needed to be upgraded to meet MICROCARB specific needs. This paper focuses on how the agility requirement has driven the design of the Attitude and Orbit Control System for MICROCARB. All the AOCS components have been improved from the equipment accommodations to the attitude estimation and control algorithms. The performances obtained with this design will be illustrated with highly representative simulation results.