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Bengaluru astronomers, collaborators build new low-cost star sensors for satellites | India News
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BENGALURU: Astronomers from Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and their collaborators have developed a new low-cost star sensor — sensors used by satellites to orient themselves — 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 PSLV’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 huge 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.
And, 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) — IIA is an autonomous institution of DST — said in a statement.
Bharat Chandra, a PhD scholar at IIA and the 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.
The main advantage of the system is the low cost and the short development cycle with COTS components which are readily available.
Binukumar Nair, a 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 (MACE), located at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO), Hanle, Ladakh.”
DST added that the sensor has successfully undergone vibration and thermal vacuum test that qualifies it for a space launch and operations, and these tests were conducted in-house at the environmental test facility located at the CREST Campus of IIA in Hoskote.
Aside from Chandra (Integrated MTech-PhD in Astronomical Instrumentation, IIA) and Nair (Visiting Scientists, IIA), the study is c0-authored by Mayuresh Sarpotdar, former IIA Ph.D working with Dhruva Space, Richa Rai, a post- doctoral fellow at the National Institute for Nuclear Physics, Trieste, Italy, Rekhesh Mohan, Scientist D, IIA, Joice Mathew, instrumentation scientist at Australian National University (ANU), Margarita Safonova, IIA and Jayant Murthy, retired senior professor, IIA.
The instrument, ‘Starberry-Sense’, built using commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) components, is ready for launch on the PSLV’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 huge 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.
And, 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) — IIA is an autonomous institution of DST — said in a statement.
Bharat Chandra, a PhD scholar at IIA and the 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.
The main advantage of the system is the low cost and the short development cycle with COTS components which are readily available.
Binukumar Nair, a 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 (MACE), located at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO), Hanle, Ladakh.”
DST added that the sensor has successfully undergone vibration and thermal vacuum test that qualifies it for a space launch and operations, and these tests were conducted in-house at the environmental test facility located at the CREST Campus of IIA in Hoskote.
Aside from Chandra (Integrated MTech-PhD in Astronomical Instrumentation, IIA) and Nair (Visiting Scientists, IIA), the study is c0-authored by Mayuresh Sarpotdar, former IIA Ph.D working with Dhruva Space, Richa Rai, a post- doctoral fellow at the National Institute for Nuclear Physics, Trieste, Italy, Rekhesh Mohan, Scientist D, IIA, Joice Mathew, instrumentation scientist at Australian National University (ANU), Margarita Safonova, IIA and Jayant Murthy, retired senior professor, IIA.
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