Sodern Auriga SA
Sodern
The Sodern Auriga SA is a compact, radiation-resistant star tracker optimized for small satellite platforms and CubeSats, offering high performance and reliability for missions up to 15 years in orbit.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Mass
- 0.205 kg
- Power
- 0.8 W
- Design life
- 15 years
Normalised to common units so this product can be compared with others in its category. The supplier's own wording is below.
As published by the supplier
- Operating temperature range
- -20/+40 °C
- Storage temperature
- -30/+70 °C
- Mechanical environment (in/out of plane)
- 14/22 gRMS gRMS / 2000gSRS @2000 Hz
- Oh size (mm, including baffle)
- 66 x 56 x 94 (height)
- Eu size
- 91 x 117 x 25 (height) mm
- Oh mass (g, including baffle)
- 205
- Eu mass
- 315 g
- Eee parts class for oh
- ECSS Class 3 equivalent and Automotive
- Eee parts class for eu
- ECSS Class 3 equivalent and Automotive
- Reliability for oh
- 230 FIT (FIDES method @20°C)
- Reliability for eu
- 470 FIT (FIDES method @20°C)
- Design life
- 10 in LEO 400-1200 km; 15 in GEO with EOR
- Oh power supply
- Supplied by EU
- Eu power supply
- 5 V (±5%)
- Oh power consumption (W, typ/max)
- 0.8/1.1
- Eu power consumption (W, typ/max)
- 2.5/3.4
- Output data
- EU: RS422 UART (115200 baud)
- Output rate
- 8 or 10 Hz
- Bias (worst case)
- 0.017 deg
- Thermo-elastic error (worst case)
- 1 arcsec/°C
- Low frequency spatial (FOV) error xy/z @ 3σ
- 9/51 arcsec
- High frequency spatial (pixel) error xy/z @ 3σ
- 6.6/37 arcsec
- Temporal noise on xy/z @ 3σ
- 11/69 arcsec
- Time from lost-in-space (typ)
- < 4s
- Slew rate in acquisition
- 0.3 deg/s
- Slew rate in tracking
- Up to 3 deg/s²
- Acceleration in acquisition
- Up to 1 deg/s²
- Acceleration in tracking at 10 hz
- Up to 2.5 deg/s²
- Full moon in the field of view
- No performance degradation
- Baffle sun exclusion angle
- 35 deg
- Baffle earth exclusion angle
- 22 deg
- Solar flare acquisition/tracking
- Robust
About
The Sodern Auriga SA is a compact star tracker designed for small satellite missions and constellations, particularly for platforms under 500kg and CubeSats from 6U. It incorporates the latest high-tech components and is optimized for space environments, featuring radiation-resistant design with a thicker casing and hardened optics. This allows for a lifetime of over 15 years in geostationary orbit and 10 years in low Earth orbit (LEO 400-1,200km). The Auriga SA is designed for cost reduction through standardized components while maintaining excellent technical performance and reliability. Its small volume (66 x 59 x 94 mm) and light weight (225g) make it one of the most compact star trackers in its category. Over 1200 Auriga™ units are already in orbit with a 100% mission success rate, with in-orbit demonstration since 2019. The system consists of an Optical Head (OH) and an Electronic Unit (EU) for plug-and-play integration. The Optical Head includes baffle protection for direct Sun and Earth illumination, and up to three Optical Heads can be connected to a single Electronic Unit via a SpaceWire interface. The Electronic Unit features embedded software for processing OH data and computing attitude, and can perform OH FDIR (Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery) through an autonomous individual OH switch ON/OFF. It operates at an assumed 10 Hz refresh rate and includes an embedded Star Catalog and algorithms inherited from 50 years of experience with star trackers, including the Hydra Star Tracker.
Documentation
Need the full ICD, test reports or a specific revision? Ask the supplier directly.