Star Tracker Product Lines

A traditional star tracker’s accuracy is limited by the resolution of the focal plane array (FPA) it uses to image the stars. Optical Physics Company has developed a new kind of star tracker using an interferometric approach that decouples star tracker accuracy from the detector resolution to a great extent by creating multiple images of a star whose intensities vary sinusoidally as the star moves across the field of view.

The relative intensities of these multiple star images can be used to calculate angular position of the star to subarc-second accuracy, corresponding to about 1/1000th of a pixel.

A movie of a simulated star moving across the field of view is shown below.

OPC is now developing products based on this technology. Applications targeted include:

• Spacecraft GN&C
• GPS Independent Navigation, and
• Space Situational Awareness (SSA)

For more information, please contact us by email.