The V-slit, N-slit, and crossed slit sun sensors that are normally used for sun elevation angle measurement on spinning spacecraft suffer from two defects, namely, nonlinearity of response and limitation in range. This paper describes a concept which overcomes both of these defects. Two versions of sensors based on this concept which give a linear output and have a range of nearly ±90° of elevation angle are described. The first version has already been flown on three Indian spacecraft, and a flight model of the second improved version is under testing for another satellite to be flown shortly.

Date Published: 1 August 1983
PDF: 6 pages
Opt. Eng. 22(4) doi: 10.1117/12.7973149
Published in: Optical Engineering Volume 22, Issue 4