Abstract
Already the first satellite of the Technical University Berlin, TUBSAT-A (launched in 1991) contained a University built CCD star sensor with a unique technique to reduce the sensor data by three orders of magnitude. In the following 15 years of operation this technique proved to be very successful. On the other hand, TUBSAT-A was one of the first satellites to discover and investigate the impact of proton radiation that is responsible for the hotspot phenomenon.
Based on this extensive experience a simple hot spot filter was conceived and successfully tested on MAROC-TUBSAT that was launched in 2001 and is still operational.
A star sensor of the third generation is scheduled to fly on the Indonesian missions LAPAN-A2 and AMSAT-ORARI in the beginning of 2010. It excels, based on the on board experience of the previous designs by its compact size (one unit of 700 g), high signal to noise ratio even in the presence of hotspots and robustness in star extraction and identification.
The chapter will present the results of the in-orbit experiments with TUBSAT-A and MAROC-TUBSAT and discuss the design principles and improvements that lead to the design of the latest model.
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References
U. Renner. Flight results of TUBSAT-A, 42nd Congress of the International Astronautical Federation, Montreal, Canada, Oct. 05–11, 1991.
S. Roemer, U. Renner. Flight Experience with the Micro Satellite MAROC-TUBSAT, 54th International Astronautical Congress of the International Astronautical Federation, Bremen, Germany, Sep. 29–3 Oct., 2003.
U. Renner, M.Buhl, High Precision Interactive Earth Observation With LAPAN-TUBSAT, Proceedings of the 4S Symposium Small Satellites, Systems and Services, Rhodes, Greece, May 26–30, 2008.
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Buhl, M., Renner, U. (2010). Star Sensor Development Based on the TUBSAT Experience. In: Sandau, R., Roeser, HP., Valenzuela, A. (eds) Small Satellite Missions for Earth Observation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03501-2_36
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03501-2_36
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