The ST5000: a high-precision star tracker and attitude determination system

Jeffrey W. Percival; Kenneth H. Nordsieck; Kurt P. Jaehnig

doi:10.1117/12.787917

12 July 2008 The ST5000: a high-precision star tracker and attitude determination system

Jeffrey W. Percival, Kenneth H. Nordsieck, Kurt P. Jaehnig

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7010, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2008: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter; 70104H (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.787917
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

The University of Wisconsin's Space Astronomy Laboratory has designed and built a Star Tracker suitable for use on sounding rockets and class D satellites. This device brings together autonomous attitude determination ("Lost in Space" mode), multi-star tracking, and a novel form of Progressive Image Transmission (US patent #5,991,816), which allows the device to be used as an ultra-low bandwidth imager. The Star Tracker 5000 (ST5000) reached operational status in a suborbital sounding rocket flight in August 2007. The ST5000 determined the rocket's inertial (FK5) attitude with arcsecond precision using its autonomous attitude determination capability, and then provided continuous sub-arc-second tracking for the full 360-second on-target portion of the flight. The ST5000 RMS tracking error was 0.54 arc-seconds in yaw and pitch, and 17 arc-seconds in roll. The vehicle RMS jitter was 0.5 arc-seconds in yaw and pitch, and 10 arc-seconds in roll. The ST5000 was funded by NASA grants NAG5-7026 and NAG5-8588.

Citation Download Citation

Jeffrey W. Percival, Kenneth H. Nordsieck, and Kurt P. Jaehnig "The ST5000: a high-precision star tracker and attitude determination system", Proc. SPIE 7010, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2008: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter, 70104H (12 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.787917

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

;

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE