Method and apparatus for rotational rate determination using a stellar reference

摘要

A method and apparatus for determining the rate of rotation of a rotating satellite 10 utilizing an imaging device 12 located on the satellite. The imaging device takes a first celestial sphere image view 22 at a first point in time and takes a second celestial image view 26 at a second point in time. The difference between the first and second images 30, differentiated over the time between the taking of the first and second images, is used to determine the rate of rotation of the satellite 32.