The spacecraft's attitude control (orientation) was designed to be three-axis stabilized, including during the firing of the Star 48B solid rocket motor (SRM) used to place it into orbit around Venus.
Prior to Magellan, all spacecraft SRM firings had involved spinning spacecraft, which made control of the SRM a much easier task.
In a typical spin mode, any unwanted forces related to SRM or nozzle mis-alignments are cancelled out.
In the case of Magellan, the spacecraft design did not lend itself to spinning, so the resulting propulsion system design had to accommodate the challenging control issues with the large Star 48B SRM.
The Star 48B, containing 2,014 kg of solid propellant, developed a thrust of ~89,000 Newton (20,000 lbf) shortly after firing; therefore, even a 0.5% SRM alignment error could generate side forces of 445 N (100 lbf).
Final conservative estimates of worst-case side forces resulted in the need for eight 445 N thrusters, two in each quadrant, located out on booms at the maximum radius that the Space Shuttle Orbiter Payload Bay would accommodate (4.4-m or 14.5-ft diameter).

The actual propulsion system design consisted of a total of 24 monopropellant hydrazine thrusters fed from a single 71 cm (28 in) diameter titanium tank.
The tank contained 133 kg (293 lb) of purified hydrazine.
The design also included a pyrotechnically-isolated external high pressure tank with additional helium that could be connected to the main tank prior to the critical Venus orbit insertion burn to ensure maximum thrust from the 445 N thrusters during the SRM firing.
Other hardware regarding orientation of the spacecraft consists of a set of gyroscopes and a star scanner.
The spacecraft's attitude control (orientation) was designed to be three-axis stabilized, including during the firing of the Star 48B solid rocket motor (SRM) used to place it into orbit around Venus. Prior to Magellan, all spacecraft SRM firings had involved spinning spacecraft, which made control of the SRM a much easier task. In a typical spin mode, any unwanted forces related to SRM or nozzle mis-alignments are cancelled out. In the case of Magellan, the spacecraft design did not lend itself to spinning, so the resulting propulsion system design had to accommodate the challenging control issues with the large Star 48B SRM. The Star 48B, containing 2,014 kg of solid propellant, developed a thrust of ~89,000 Newton (20,000 lbf) shortly after firing; therefore, even a 0.5% SRM alignment error could generate side forces of 445 N (100 lbf). Final conservative estimates of worst-case side forces resulted in the need for eight 445 N thrusters, two in each quadrant, located out on booms at the maximum radius that the Space Shuttle Orbiter Payload Bay would accommodate (4.4-m or 14.5-ft diameter).
The actual propulsion system design consisted of a total of 24 monopropellant hydrazine thrusters fed from a single 71 cm (28 in) diameter titanium tank. The tank contained 133 kg (293 lb) of purified hydrazine. The design also included a pyrotechnically-isolated external high pressure tank with additional helium that could be connected to the main tank prior to the critical Venus orbit insertion burn to ensure maximum thrust from the 445 N thrusters during the SRM firing. Other hardware regarding orientation of the spacecraft consists of a set of gyroscopes and a star scanner.
Magellan (spacecraft)