T3 Star Tracker
Terma
The Terma T3 is a lightweight, integrated star tracker designed specifically for small satellites and commercial LEO constellation platforms operating with COTS-grade components and tight mass and power budgets. The T3 combines the optical head and processing unit into a single 350 g package measuring 100 × 60 × 60 mm — replacing the two-unit […]
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Mass
- 0.35 kg
- Power
- 2 W
- Largest dimension
- 100 mm
- Design life
- 5 years
- TRL
- 9
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
- Mass
- 350 g (complete integrated unit)
- Dimensions
- 100 × 60 × 60 mm
- Power
- 2 W max
- Supply voltage
- 5–12 V
- Field of view
- 20° circular
- Sun exclusion angle
- 37.5° half-angle
- Pointing accuracy
- 2.1 arcsec spatial (3σ); <2 arcsec pitch/yaw (1σ)
- Time to first acquisition
- 10 seconds
- Max slew rate
- <0.3 deg/s (full performance)
- Update rate
- <5 Hz
- Interface
- RS-422, CAN
- Operating temperature
- -40°C to +30°C; survival -40°C to +70°C
- Design lifetime
- >5 years LEO
- TRL
- 9; 100+ units delivered annually
- Optics
- Radiation-hardened aspherical optics (derived from T1/T2 heritage)
About
The Terma T3 is a lightweight, integrated star tracker designed specifically for small satellites and commercial LEO constellation platforms operating with COTS-grade components and tight mass and power budgets. The T3 combines the optical head and processing unit into a single 350 g package measuring 100 × 60 × 60 mm — replacing the two-unit approach of the T1/T2 heritage product line. The optical system uses radiation-hardened aspherical optics derived from the GEO-qualified T1/T2 camera, providing a 20° circular field of view and 37.5° sun exclusion half-angle. Pointing accuracy is 2.1 arcsec spatial error (3σ), with sub-2 arcsec 1σ performance in pitch/yaw. The T3 operates on a 5–12 V supply at 2 W maximum, interfaces via RS-422 and CAN, and achieves first acquisition in 10 seconds. Operating temperature range is −40°C to +30°C full performance with survival to +70°C. Design lifetime exceeds 5 years. Terma delivers 100+ T3 units annually, with pricing approximately $82,000 USD per unit. The T3 inherits the ESA- and NASA-heritage camera lineage of the T1 while being optimised for the commercial smallsat market segment.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.