Pointing and stabilization issues of large spinning antennas

Three dynamics, control, and calibration issues concerning the integration of a large spinning antenna onboard a three-axis stabilized vehicle are discussed. Since this antenna development was the key driver for the NROSS program, the issues of spacecraft/antenna dynamic interactions, on-orbit balancing, and boresight pointing were some of the technologies identified very early in the program. Methodologies developed and preliminary results obtained to resolve the feasibility of the baseline antenna design are also discussed. No major problems were identified and the preliminary results indicated that spinning the large antenna was feasible