A Solar Cell Based Coarse Sun Sensor for a Small LEO Satellite Attitude Determination

The sun is a useful reference direction because of its brightness relative to other astronomical objects and its relatively small apparent radius as viewed by spacecrafts near the Earth. Most satellites use solar power as a source of energy, and so need to make sure that solar panels are oriented correctly with respect to the sun. Also, some satellites have sensitive instruments that must not be exposed to direct sunlight. For all these reasons, sun sensors are important components in spacecraft attitude determination and control systems. To minimize components and structural mass, some components have multiple purposes. The solar cells will provide power and also be used as coarse sun sensors. A coarse Sun sensor is a low-cost attitude determination sensor suitable for a wide range of space missions. The sensor measures the sun angle in two orthogonal axes. The Sun sensor measures the sun angle in both azimuth and elevation. This paper presents the development of a model to determine the attitude of a small cube-shaped satellite in space relative to the sun's direction. This sensor helps small cube-shaped Pico satellites to perform accurate attitude determination without requiring additional hardware.