Bradford Space, a high-tech developer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art in-orbit systems and components ranging from propulsion systems and avionics to microgravity workspaces has introduced a new Acceleration Measurement Unit (AMU) for satellites.

The Acceleration Measurement Unit (AMU) from Bradford Space is an independent measurement unit. The AMU is composed of four accelerometers disposed on a regular tetrahedron. It includes an accelerometer adaptation electronic board with four electrically independent channels connected to each Fibre Optic Gyro (FOG) Electronic Module (FEM) of the Gyro Electronic Unit (GEU) by an electrical harness.

The AMU provides acceleration measurements to the traditional Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). It is constructed out of an aluminum housing and three titanium isolators bolted to the housing. The tetrahedral shape of the housing allows ideal axes orientation for the three accelerometers. In addition, the housing contains a single Printed Circuit Board (PCB) which contains the conditioning electronics. The special titanium isolators dampen the mechanical loads applied to the AMU housing during launch in order to prevent the over-stressing of the accelerometers.

This measurement unit has a lifetime of around 10 years in orbit. It has an input acceleration of +/-7.5 mg (full performance) and an acceleration output range of 0.04-2.9 V. The AMU has an analog anti-aliasing low pass filter for full performance with a cut-off frequency of 0.47 Hz and an attenuation of less than -14.7 dB. The whole measurement unit system weighs less than  2.035 Kg.

The AMU has flown on the Solar Orbiter and the Euclid missions. Solar Orbiter was the first satellite to provide close-up views of the Sun’s Polar Regions, which were very difficult to see from Earth, providing images from latitudes higher than 25 degrees. It was able to almost match the Sun’s rotation about its axis for several days and was the first to see solar storms building up over an extended period from the same viewpoint. Euclid will accurately measure the acceleration/ expansion of the universe through investigation of the redshifted light of galaxies at various distances from Earth. In this way, a better understanding of dark energy and dark matter is to be gained.

Click here to learn more about Acceleration Measurement Unit (AMU) from Bradford Space.

Click here to learn about Inertial Measurement Units from various manufacturers listed on SATNow.