Redwire Star Field Simulator
Redwire Corporation
Hardware-in-the-loop star field simulator providing as-you-fly ground test operation of Redwire star trackers.
Technical specifications
- Dimensions (W x L x H)
- 8 x 24 x 7 in (200 x 610 x 180 mm)
- Mass
- 11 lbs (5 kg)
- Included equipment
- Fixture, cabling, power supply, star field driver, laptop, SFS software suite
- Operating modes
- User-defined flight segments; externally driven closed loop; prerecorded night-sky data
- Compatible star trackers
- Model 82920 Star Tracker, Model 83190 SpectraTRAC
- User-supplied equipment
- Windows 10 PC running Space Sextant, star tracker telemetry interface
- Software heritage
- Based on software originally developed at JPL
About
The Redwire Star Field Simulator is a hardware-in-the-loop test system that provides as-you-fly operation of Redwire star trackers — the Model 82920 Star Tracker and Model 83190 SpectraTRAC — within a simulated night-sky environment. It supports three operating modes: predefined flight through user-defined night-sky segments from an initial inertial frame, externally driven star-field display updates for closed-loop testing, and playback of prerecorded night-sky tracking data.
This mode flexibility lets flight-systems engineers accelerate the full vehicle flight-control development cycle, from initial star tracker integration through complete flight simulations, exploring scenarios such as varying rates of motion, vehicle control cases, or pointing transitions. It also serves as a standalone testbed to verify star tracker operation, reducing system troubleshooting labor during build and test. When paired with Redwire’s Advanced Configurable Open-system Research Network (ACORN), the simulator supports full digital mission engineering.
The complete kit — fixture, cabling, power supply, star field driver, laptop, and SFS software suite — weighs 11 lbs (5 kg) and measures 8 x 24 x 7 inches (200 x 610 x 180 mm). It is based on software originally written at JPL to qualify star trackers, and requires a customer-supplied Windows 10 system to run the “Space Sextant” application and a star tracker telemetry interface.
Documentation
Need the full ICD, test reports or a specific revision? Ask the supplier directly.
