Satellite > Attitude > Sensors > Sun Sensor > AQUILA-D02 Sun Sensor
Summary
A sun sensor determines a spacecraft’s orientation with respect to the sun. The front surface of the NewSpace Systems (NSS) Aquila-D02 (NFSS-411) sensor is a synthetic sapphire window with a reflective metal coating beneath it. Slits are etched in the metal and sunlight passes through them and through an optical filter onto a sensor.
The charge on the photo sensors are read by the microcontroller which processes the image and computes the sun vector. The vector and other telemetry is returned to the spacecraft through the serial interface. The unit can be powered from unregulated DC power from the spacecraft.
Applications
- Accurate determination of sun-angle
- Can be used in conjunction with a magnetometer for simple attitude control
- Can be used as safe-mode sensors on a gyro or star-mapper-controlled systems
- Four sensors can achieve full sky coverage
Key features
- Ultra-small size and low mass
- Low power
- Simple to interface
- Wide field of view
- Digital architecture (Albedo immune)
- Calibration embedded
Disclaimer: satsearch is not responsible for any mistakes on this page, although we do our best to ensure correctness. Please report any mistakes to us.
Last updated: 2024-02-06
Specs
idle: < 8mA [40mW] (application mode)
active: <30mA [150mW]
Export