Fast star tracking technology in star sensor

A fast star tracking algorithm is proposed. In order to speed up the star tracking, three techniques including star catalogue partition, threshold mapping and sorting & matching are designed for three time-consuming portions in tracking algorithm,. Star catalogue partition divides the celestial sphere into small partitions. Threshold mapping sets a threshold of stars tracked which reduces mapping times. Sorting and matching avoided matching between stars which have a long distance. The software and hardware performance of tracking algorithm are stimulated. Tracking effectiveness and the success rate under different position noises are tested in software stimulation. In hardware stimulation, the tracking speed in every step is tested.