An inertial reference system for a spacecraft includes an attitude control assembly
and a plurality of force sensors. The attitude control assembly is coupled to a
spacecraft body at a plurality of attachment points and at least one of the plurality
of force sensors is integrated at each of the attachment points. In one embodiment,
the force sensors are piezoelectric transducers. In another embodiment, the control
assembly is coupled to the spacecraft body at four attachment points. In yet another
embodiment, each of the force sensors is preloaded by a bolt that attaches the
attitude control assembly to the spacecraft body.
