Star tracker for remote sensing satellites

A microprocessor controlled star tracker system using an area array charge coupled device (CCD) as detector has been developed for the attitude determination of remote sensing satellites. A pair of sensors with field of view (FOV) of 8 deg x 6 deg mounted in skewed configuration in the 3 axis stabilized satellite is capable of detecting stars up to 5.0 visual magnitude giving an attitude determination accuracy of better than 0.01 deg. This system is developed at the Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS), Bangalore and intended to be flown aboard Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-1C) scheduled to be launched by the middle of 1995.