Acquiring more targets during a single orbital pass requires a spacecraft to reorient quickly between observations. In our interview recorded at Space Tech Expo Europe 2025, Barbara Samuel, Head of Sales at Belgian company Veoware, demonstrates how control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) are designed to provide the torque needed for agile satellite pointing.
A reaction wheel produces torque by changing its rotor speed. A CMG instead keeps its flywheel rotating at an essentially constant speed and generates torque by changing the direction of its angular momentum through a gimbal. Samuel demonstrates four CMGs arranged in a pyramid cluster on an air-bearing platform, showing how coordinated gimbal motion steers the simulated spacecraft.
Higher available torque is particularly relevant to Earth observation and other missions that require rapid retargeting. Achieving it requires more than actuators alone: cluster steering software has to coordinate gimbal rates and avoid singularities where the system cannot generate a commanded torque in the required direction.
In September 2026, the European Space Agency (ESA) reported successful commissioning of Veoware’s compact CMGs aboard a commercial satellite constellation. During in-orbit tests, manoeuvres were completed approximately 2.5 times faster than with reaction wheels. For imaging missions, shorter slews could allow more targets to be captured during a pass.
In the interview, Samuel also refers to an average tenfold torque advantage over reaction wheels. Torque and manoeuvre completion time are different measures, so the interview figure should not be confused with the ESA flight-test result or assumed to apply to every spacecraft configuration.
Veoware is exhibiting independently at Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen, 17–19 November 2026. Visit its team at Booth D26 to discuss CMG clusters, reaction wheels and agile attitude-control architectures.
Our extended team, with colleagues from MSA Components and Hi-Rel Solutions by Steliau Technology, will separately be available in Hall 5, Booth F11 for technical discussions about high-reliability electronics and space-project requirements.
Arrange a technical discussion with our team in Bremen:
PERSONAL CONSULTATION
From component selection to design-in: our sales team advises you in person, by phone, video call or on site. We will set aside 30 minutes for you.
PERSÖNLICHE BERATUNG
Von der Bauteilauswahl bis zum Design-in: Unser Vertriebsteam berät Sie persönlich, telefonisch, per Videokonferenz oder vor Ort. Wir nehmen uns 30 Minuten Zeit.