Bradford's Mini Fine Sun Sensor is designed to deliver exact information about the position of the sun in a compact package. This allows for spacecraft yaw control without a star tracker, and therefore is useful for Earth pointing devices and solar array orientation.
The Mini Fine Sun Sensor is an analogue sensor, based on the use of a quadrant detector which is capable of measuring the solar aspect angle in two axis. Processing the four quadrant outputs results in the two components and of the solar aspect angle. The applied algorithms cancel out all disturbances that are common to the four quadrants, such as temperature effects, particle radiation degradation, window performance and scale factors. For the conversion to signals that can be used by the spacecraft electronics system, the spacecraft may use passive conversion into signal voltages across load-resistors, or active conversion using current-to-voltage converters. It is designed for long duration low earth orbit missions.
A variant without read-out electronics is especially suited for small satellites.
Parameter | Specification | |
---|---|---|
FOV | 128 x 128 ° | |
Accuracy | ± 0.2 ° ( 3σ ) with provided LUT implemented on OBC | |
Resolution | < 0.03 ° | |
Noise Equivalent Angle | < 0.005 ° ( 3σ ) | |
Mass | 50 g | |
Dimensions | 50 x 46 x 17 mm | |
Power Consumption | 0 W | |
Data Interface | Analogue voltage 0 - 5V | |
Reliability Figure | 22.3 FIT @ 30 °C | |
Total Ionising Dose Resilience | 20 kRad | |
Electrical Interface | 9-pin micro-D connector | |
Mechanical Inferface | 2x M3 + 1x M4 mounting holes |
Allows you to interface your OBC's ADC directly to the unit.
Available with a range of baffle options to exclude stray light and achieve a narrower field of view
7/1/2023
Cislunar - L2