Bengaluru astronomers help develop low-cost star sensors for satellites

 BENGALURU: Astronomers from the city-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and their collaborators have developed a low-cost star sensor that can help small CubeSat-class satellites find their orientation in space.

The instrument, Starberry-Sense, built using commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) components, is ready for launch on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle’s stage-4 orbital platform and can be used for CubeSats and other small satellite missions in the future.
Pointing out that in recent years, CubeSats and small satellite missions have gained a great deal of popularity, astronomers said these missions utilise commercially available components for their design and development, but the typical cost of a commercially available star sensor often exceeds the total budget for a CubeSat.
Starberry-Sense can help address this issue. “The sensor developed by researchers at IIA and their collaborators costs less than 10% of those available in the market. The brain of the instrument is a single-board Linux computer called Raspberry Pi, which is widely used among electronics hobby enthusiasts,” the department of science and technology (DST) — of which IIA is an autonomous institution — said in a statement.

Bharat Chandra, a PhD scholar at IIA and first author of the research published in the Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments and Systems, said the team coupled some highly optimised algorithms with a Raspberry Pi and turned it into a potent star sensor. “We could demonstrate that instruments built from easily available components can be qualified for space,” he added.
Binukumar Nair, co-author of the study, said: “Our modular design allows for quick and easy customisation for various requirements. For example, even though StarBerry-Sense is meant for space-based applications, a modified version will be interfaced with the Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment, located at the Indian Astronomical Observatory, Hanle, Ladakh.”

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