System and method for determining the attitude of a spacecraft using stellar or terrestrial sensors

摘要

The present invention relates to a method for measuring the attitude of an artificial satellite (100) using one or more stellar trackers (12) in combination with a terrestrial sensor (30). Periodic updates of the orbital data of the satellite, whether transmitted on board or from a ground station, are combined with terrestrial and stellar position coordinate data in order to provide a continuous and accurate measurement of the triaxial attitude of the body of the spacecraft. The method according to the invention can be used by ground-based attitude determination systems or on-board systems with closed-loop control. <IMAGE>