A new procedure for onboard calibration of star sensors installed on low Earth orbit satellite

Abstract

Abstract This paper suggests a new onboard calibration procedure for star sensors installed on low Earth orbit satellites. In this procedure, all the error factors are investigated, and an accurate model of the star sensor is presented. Then, a new scenario is proposed for producing real data from a star sensor installed on a satellite while the satellite is moving in orbit. These sensor data are entered into the unscented Kalman filter as measurement data, and the sensor parameters, including focal length and principal point, are estimated. In the following, the estimated parameters are entered into the linear Kalman filter, and the misalignment error is estimated. Finally, the proposed procedure is simulated, and its performance is checked. The simulation results show the high accuracy and convergence speed of the suggested algorithm.

Keywords

• Star sensor
• Onboard calibration
• Low Earth orbit satellites
• Kalman filter