A rigorous attitude estimation method for satellite attitude determination based on star sensor

摘要

Attitude estimation method is one of influencing factors for the attitude accuracy. Traditionally, the elements of the rotation matrix as attitude unknowns are estimated optimally, but the solved attitude angles based on the elements of rotation matrix aren't optimal. A rigorous attitude estimation approach for satellite attitude determination based on star sensor is presented in this paper, which directly considers three-axis attitude angles as attitude unknowns. The experiment indicates the proposed approach can improve the attitude accuracy to a great degree when the position errors of image points are within ±0.5 pixel, and the efficiency can be guaranteed as well.