Sun Sensors (Coarse)

Overview
• Product description:

• Recent deliveries include:
  
  • Naval Research Lab
  • Orbital Sciences Corporation
  • NASA - Ames Research Center
  • Millennium Corporation
• Key Technical Performance:
  
  • Passively operated device (requires no bus power)
  • Better than 5 degrees pointing accuracy
  • Weighs less than 20 grams
• Recent & Upcoming launches:
  
  • STPSat-2 onboard S26 Minotaur IV
  • TacSat-III onboard Minotaur I

Comtech AeroAstro’s Coarse Sun Sensors are very low-cost, high reliability devices with years of flight heritage. They are designed to provide attitude determination information during various mission modes including launch vehicle separation, initial attitude acquisition, emergencies, and off-nominal modes. They can also provide coarse sun vector determination as a backup to higher resolution sensors.

Each sensor contains a single photodiode, with the housing for the coarse sun sensor assembly also serving as an aperture. This inexpensive, lightweight sensor (only 20g) draws no power and has an accuracy of better than ±5 degrees over a full-angle 120-degree field of view. Sensors are available in panel mount or through-hole configurations.

Sun Sensors (Coarse) History

Comtech AeroAstro’s Coarse Sun Sensors were originally designed and built for the ALEXIS space program for the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The sensor design has changed little in its near two-decade design life, providing the same unparalleled simplicity and reliability. Expanding the versatility for use on STP-SIV, Comtech AeroAstro modified the unit to allow through-hole configurations. Further, with each delivery, we continue to fine tune our calibration sensor response curves providing even better accuracies and performance without changing the hardware.

Comtech AeroAstro's Sun Sensors have flown successfully on multiple spacecraft, including ALEXIS, HETE, MOST, CHIPSat, and STPSat-1, and is compatible with virtually all launch environments. Additional deliveries are slated to support TacSat-5, JMAPS, and the NASA COTS program.