B. Arribas, J. Maia, J. Castanheira, J. Filho, R. Melicio, H. Onderwater, P. Gordo, R. Duarte, A. R. R. Silva

Abstract
This paper presents the conception, design and real miniature instrument implementation of a dual-purpose sensor for small satellites that can act as a star tracker and space debris detector. In the previous research work, the authors conceived, designed and implemented a breadboard consisting of a computer laptop, a camera interface and camera controller, an image sensor, an optics system, a temperature sensor and a temperature controller. It showed that the instrument was feasible. In this paper, a new real star tracker miniature instrument is designed, physically realized and tested. The implementation follows a New Space approach; it is made with Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) components with space heritage. The instrument’s development, implementation and testing are presented.

Keywords
miniature instrument / star tracker sensor / space debris detector / small satellites / image sensor / microprocessor / architecture / parallel interface

Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks
Volume 14, Number 4
2025 July

>> DOI