Spacecraft Angular Rate Estimation Algorithms For Star Tracker-Based Attitude Determination

In this paper, two different algorithms are presented for the estimation of spacecraft body angular rates in the absence of gyro rate data for a star tracker mission. In first approach, body angular rates are estimated with the spacecraft attitude using a dynamical model of the spacecraft. The second approach makes use of a rapid update rate of star camera to estimate the spacecraft body angular rates independent of spacecraft attitude. Essentially the image flow of the stars is used to establish a Kalman filter for estimating the angular velocity. The relative merits of both the algorithms are then studied for the spacecraft body angular rates measurements. The second approach has an advantage of being free from any bias in attitude estimates.