An important milestone passed quietly last week. On April 28, the CanX-2 satellite marked 10 years on-orbit. Onboard is the first RW-0.03 reaction wheel, still running nominally. CanX-2 was the first 3U Cubesat to demonstrate high-performance 3-axis pointing of an optical payload. All of our 129 reaction wheels currently on-orbit ultimately trace their heritage to the CanX-2 wheel. We have scaled the design larger and smaller, as different missions have needed, but we have never strayed far from the proven mechanical design that just keeps working. |
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