The Fine Sun Sensor FSS has been developed for medium to high accuracy pointing requirements of satellites to be applied for earth observation, navigation and science. The FSS is a photodiode based sun sensor with a high degree of flexibility to cope with a large variety of customer requirements with respect to field of view and accuracy.
The FSS is an analogue sun sensor with a lifetime of more than 13 years. It is a fully space-qualified product and was delivered e.g. for ASTRIUM's GSTB-V2 and Alenia's Radarsat-2 as well as the CosmoSkymed satellite constellation.
The functional principle of the FSS is based on a slit mask which transfers the incoming sunlight on a photo diode arrangement. In dependence on the incident angle of the sunlight and the distance between the slit mask and the photo diode array a defined number of responsive diodes are illuminated. The generated photo currents are a function of the angle of incident light.
The Fine Sun Sensor is combining low cost with short lead-time and robust technology.
