A single-detector analog sun sensor using the cosine principle for solar array pointing, sun acquisition, and fail-safe recovery. Over 1,000 units deployed since the 1960s across hundreds of spacecraft.
Coarse Sun Sensor (Cosine Type)
A single-detector analog sun sensor using the cosine principle for solar array pointing, sun acquisition, and fail-safe recovery. Over 1,000 units deployed since the 1960s across hundreds of spacecraft.
Description
The Adcole Space Coarse Sun Sensor (Cosine Type) is a heritage-proven analog optical detector designed to determine the position of the sun relative to the spacecraft. Operating on the cosine law principle, the photodiode output is proportional to the cosine of the angle between the sensor boresight and incident sunlight, providing a continuous analog signal for spacecraft attitude operations.
With more than 1,000 Adcole analog solar sensors deployed on hundreds of spacecraft since the 1960s, this sensor brings exceptional flight heritage to any mission. It is used for solar array pointing, sun acquisition, and fail-safe recovery operations — critical functions for virtually every orbiting spacecraft.
The sensor offers approximate cosine and conical symmetry field-of-view (FOV) capabilities, and custom baffles can be designed to restrict the FOV for nearly any unique mission requirement. The design is compact, passive (no power required for detection), and highly reliable for missions ranging from Earth orbit to deep space.
Adcole Space (a Redwire company) offers the Coarse Sun Sensor as a standalone unit or in multi-detector pyramid configurations for two-axis sun angle measurement. The sensor has supported landmark missions including OSIRIS-REx, GPS constellation satellites, and the Parker Solar Probe.
Specifications
| Sensor type | Analog cosine-response photodiode |
|---|---|
| Axes | 1 (single axis per detector) |
| Configuration | Cosine type (single detector) |
| Field of view | Hemispherical (custom baffle options available) |
| Output | Analog current/voltage proportional to cos(angle) |
| Flight heritage | Yes — 1,000+ units flown since 1960s |
| Status | In Production |
| Applications | Solar array pointing, sun acquisition, fail-safe recovery |
