Satellite stabilisation
After an intensive trade-off study by European industry, on the choice between using a three-axis versus a spin-stabilized platform for MSG, it was decided in 1994 to continue with the spinning concept.
It has several clear advantages as it provides:
- better geometric image quality
- better spectral and geometric image resolution
- better mission availability
- moderate operational complexity
- the same radiometric performance, at the expense of a slightly larger instrument aperture
The three axis stabilisation would have implied a higher satellite mass at launch, raising the launch costs. It also imposes a very high satellite attitude control complexity, which in turn could imply degraded reliability, which is undesirable for an operational system.
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