Fine Sun Sensor (FSS)
bradford-space-ecaps
Analogue quadrant-detector sun sensor providing precise two-axis solar aspect angle for yaw steering and earth-pointing missions.
Technical specifications
- Detector Type
- Analogue quadrant detector
- Axes
- 2
- Output
- 4 quadrant voltages + sun presence voltage
About
The Fine Sun Sensor (FSS) from Bradford Space is designed to deliver exact information about the position of the sun. This information is used for yaw steering of the spacecraft and is applied in earth-pointing devices and solar array orientation.
The FSS is an analogue sensor based on a quadrant detector capable of measuring the solar aspect angle in two axes. Processing the four quadrant outputs results in the two components of the solar aspect angle. The applied algorithms cancel out disturbances common to the four quadrants, such as temperature effects, particle radiation degradation, window performance and scale factors.
The FSS provides four quadrant output voltages and a sun presence output voltage, features an internal thermistor, and is qualified for low Earth orbits with many temperature excursions and severe radiation regions such as HEO in the Van Allen belts.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.
