Star Trackers

Comtech AeroAstro's (CAA) Miniature Star Tracker (MST) design is a small, low power (Less than 2 Watts) star tracker, with an accuracy of better than +-90 arcseconds in all three axes at one sigma. The Miniature Star Tracker has a 30 degree field of view, a tracking update rate of 1 Hz, and a mass of only 375 grams providing reasonable star tracking accuracy with low mass and power consumption at less than half the cost of other star trackers available. The Miniature Star Tracker is available in a low-cost commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) version tolerant up to 30 krad and can 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 custom code can be incorporated. Built-in test includes the ability to upload images and verify star tracker performance.

For more information on AeroAstro’s Miniature Star Tracker, please download our product data sheet. [download PDF]