Miniature Star Tracker (MST)

Overview
• Product Description

• Recent deliveries include:
  • Dynetics Corporation
  • Air Force Research Laboratory
  • UTIAS
  • Orbital Sciences Corporation
  • PNP Innovations
• Key Technical Performance:
  • 375 gram design
  • 1 watt nominal power consumption
  • 30 krad Radiation performance (upgrade available)
  • FastSat onboard S26 Minotaur IV

Comtech AeroAstro's Miniature Star Tracker (MST) design is a small, low power (less than 2 W) star tracker, with an accuracy of better than ±90 arcseconds in all three axes (one sigma). The MST has a 24 × 30 degree field of view, a tracking update rate of 1 Hz, and a mass of only 375 g—providing reasonable star tracking accuracy with low mass and power consumption at less than half the cost of other available star trackers. The MST is available in a low-cost commercial-off-the-shelf version tolerant up to 30 krad and may be modified for higher radiation tolerance.

The MST also provides a lost-in-space capability and is currently being enhanced to achieve fast angular rate sensing. The MST features a user-definable star catalog and powerful hybrid processor. With a 1 Mpixel CMOS array, the MST is sensitive up to 4th magnitude stars. Images can be downloaded for ground processing and built-in test routines include the ability to upload images and verify star tracker performance.

Miniature Star Tracker (MST) History

Comtech AeroAstro's MST is the first very compact and affordable, all-optical star tracker with autonomous lost-in-space recovery and high-angular-rate tracking capability. Solely through image processing of rapidly acquired pictures of star fields, the unit can simultaneously perform the essential navigation, rotation sensing, and attitude determination functions that formerly demanded much larger, power hungry and more expensive components. This system can recover from typical spacecraft tumble conditions and determine the inertial three-axis attitude of the spacecraft without first being provided an estimate.

The Comtech AeroAstro MST was developed with the support of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).  Originally developed with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) through a Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) award from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the project reached maturity through a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) effort. Under the direction of the AFRL’s Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB,  MST prototyping was completed and environmental testing performed. The successful result was an all-optical star tracker and angular rate sensor that is very low in mass, volume, power consumption, and cost.