Accurate attitude determination is an important enabler for micro- and nanosatellite missions. For remote sensing applications and formation flying missions, the attitude of the spacecraft must be known and controlled with a high accuracy. ISIS introduces a modular and scalable attitude determination system based on a multi-aperture miniature star sensor. Based on a patented concept, the Multi-Aperture Baffled Starsensor, the attitude sensor integrates several apertures into a single star tracker. The main advantage of this concept is that it eliminates the need for large baffles as there is a redundancy of independent apertures. Even when several apertures are obstructed, for instance by the Earth and the Sun simultaneously, the star tracker will still have apertures available with a 'free' field of view and will be able to determine star positions. The concept consists of a standalone sensor element for an attitude determination and control system and allows for integration, alignment, and calibration of the sensor on subsystem level rather than on spacecraft level. The system consists of an optical head that can include up to 9 miniature star cameras, and an electronics system that combines the star camera inputs and determines and outputs the spacecraft attitude vector.
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