{{Short description|Method of stabilizing a satellite or launch vehicle}} In aerospace engineering, '''spin stabilization''' is a method of stabilizing a satellite or launch vehicle by means of spin, i.e. rotation along the longitudinal axis. The concept originates from conservation of angular momentum as applied to ballistics, where the spin is commonly obtained by means of rifling. For most satellite applications this approach has been superseded by three-axis stabilization.
==Use== Spin-stabilization is used on rockets and spacecraft where attitude control is required without the requirement for on-board 3-axis propulsion or mechanisms, and sensors for attitude control and pointing. On rockets with a solid motor upper stage, spin stabilization is used to keep the motor from drifting off course as they don't have their own thrusters. Usually small rockets are used to spin up the spacecraft and rocket then fire the rocket and send the craft off.
Rockets and spacecraft that use spin stabilization: * The Jupiter-C and Minotaur V launch vehicles used spin-stabilization. The upper stages on both system employ spin-stabilization to stabilize the system during propulsive maneuvers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jupiter-C/Explorer 1|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1958-001A|publisher=NASA NSSDCA|access-date=January 1, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Minotaur V High Energy Space Launch Vehicle|url=https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/433343main_Minotaur_V_fact.pdf|publisher=NASA|access-date=January 1, 2023}}</ref> * The Aryabhata satellite used spin-stabilization<ref>{{cite journal|title=An overview of the 'Aryabhata' project |url=https://www.ias.ac.in/public/Volumes/sadh/001/02/0117-0133.pdf|first=UR|last=Rao |journal=Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences |volume=C1|number=2|date=September 1978|pages=117–133|doi=10.1007/BF02843538 |s2cid=128455319 |access-date=January 1, 2023}}</ref> * The Pioneer 4 spacecraft, the second object sent on a lunar flyby in 1959, maintained its attitude using spin-stabilization.<ref name="The Moon Probe"> {{cite report| author = Jet Propulsion Laboratory (under contract for NASA)| title = The Moon Probe Pioneer IV| publisher = NASA-JPL| year = 1959 | url = https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1959-013A | format = PDF | accessdate = 2017-02-26 }}</ref> * The Schiaparelli EDM lander was spun up to 2.5 RPM before being ejected from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter prior to its attempted landing on Mars in October 2016.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://spaceflight101.com/exomars/schiaparelli-edm/ | title=Schiaparelli EDM – ExoMars | Spaceflight101 }}</ref> * The Juno spacecraft was spin-stabilized and arrived at Jupiter orbit in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=Juno Spacecraft Presskit|url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kits/juno/spacecraft/|publisher=NASA|access-date=December 31, 2022}}</ref> * The launches of Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 probes on two Atlas Centaur vehicles in 1972 and 1973 employed Star 37 rocket motors that were spin-stabilized in order to inject the satellites into the high-energy hyperbolic orbits necessary to achieve solar system escape velocity.<ref>{{cite web|last=Krebs|first=Gunter D. |title=Pioneer 10, 11, H|publisher=Gunter's Space Page|access-date=January 1, 2023|url=https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/pioneer-1011.htm}}</ref> Additionally, both probes were spin-stabilized during their flights and rotated at approximately 5 rpm.<ref>{{cite web|date=Mar 26, 2007|title=The Pioneer Missions|url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/missions/archive/pioneer.html|publisher=NASA|access-date=January 1, 2023}}</ref> * In operation as a third stage, the Star 48 rocket booster sits on top of spin table, and before it is separated it is spun up to stabilize it during the separation from the previous stage.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjAJNZYQ9K8C&pg=PA126|title=Space Handbook: A War Fighter's Guide to Space, V. 1|last=Muolo|first=Michael J.|date=November 1993|publisher=Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-16-061355-5|page=126}}</ref> The Delta II launch vehicle third stage employed a Star 48 motor and was spin-stabilized and depended on the second stage for proper orientation prior to stage separation, but was sometimes equipped with a nutation control system to maintain proper spin axis.<ref name="D2PG"/> It also included a yo-weight system to induce tumbling in the third stage after payload separation to prevent recontact, or a yo-yo de-spin mechanism to slow the rotation before payload release.<ref name="D2PG">{{cite web|title=Delta II Payload Planner's Guide 2007 |url=http://www.ulalaunch.com/uploads/docs/DeltaIIPayloadPlannersGuide2007.pdf|website=ulalaunch.com|access-date=24 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919175556/http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/docs/product_cards/guides/DeltaIIPayloadPlannersGuide2007.pdf|archive-date=19 September 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>
Despinning can be achieved by various techniques, including yo-yo de-spin.<ref>{{cite report|title=Theory and Design Curves for a Yo-Yo De-Spin Mechanism for Satellites|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/AD0260758|last=Fedor|first=J.V.|date=August 1, 1961|publisher=Defense Technical Information Center|access-date=January 1, 2023}}</ref>
With advancements in attitude control propulsion systems, guidance systems, and the needs for satellites to point instruments and communications systems precisely, 3-axis attitude control has become much more common than spin-stabilization for systems operating in space.<ref>{{cite web|title=When and why did three-axis stabilization become prominent in geostationary satellites?|url=https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/57799/when-and-why-did-three-axis-stabilization-become-prominent-in-geostationary-sate|publisher=Stack Exchange Space Exploration|access-date=January 1, 2023}}</ref>
==See also== *Gyroscope *Spin-stabilized satellite
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spin-Stabilisation}} Category:Spacecraft attitude control Category:Spaceflight technology
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