Abstract:

Contrary to the traditional method which based on the two reference vectors to determine the attitude of an on- orbit spin stabilized geostationary satellite, this paper presents a novel algorithm, which based only on one vector and the satellite’s position. Therefore the limitation on geometry for traditional method can be left. With only using the differential values measured by an onboard infrared earth sensor, the new algorithm can eliminate the inherent measure errors caused by the installation error and the shift of center of mass.

Key words: spin , stabilized , satellite,  , infrared , earth , sensor,  , earth , width,  , attitude , determination