Miniature Interferometric CubeSat-Ready Optical Sub-arc-second Telescope Array Star Tracker

To address the NASA need for enabling communication and navigation technologies for distributed small spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit, Intellisense Systems Inc. (Intellisense) proposes to develop a new Miniature Interferometric CubeSat-Ready Optical Sub-arc-second Telescope Array (MICROSTAR) Star Tracker for optical navigation of distributed CubeSats. The proposed high-accuracy star tracker for low SWaP (<0.25 U) CubeSat attitude determination is based on multi-aperture interferometric fringe detection modules with no moving parts. The innovations in the use of the interferometry fringe methodology developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and its implementation in planar waveguide optics will enable a modular compact integration of the proposed system capable of long-term, high-accuracy attitude determination for robust CubeSats control. In Phase I, Intellisense will develop a viable conceptual design of MICROSTAR star tracker that satisfies NASA’s navigation and absolute attitude determination requirements, including SWaP-C, absolute position, pointing and tracking, and power budget, demonstrate the design’s feasibility by prototyping and testing key enabling technologies, and develop a Phase II plan. In Phase II, Intellisense will develop a prototype of the MICROSTAR system that will be integrated with a commercial off-the-shelf 1 U CubeSat platform to support laboratory testing and field demonstration towards development into space-qualifiable and commercially available CubeSat sensor payloads.

With its low SWaP-C design, the MICROSTAR system will be suitable for many NASA applications including lunar, Mars, and deep space distributed science missions, distributed aperture virtual telescope, small spacecraft swarm for gravimetry and transient phenomena observation, and proximity operations for inspection of space assets. Additional applications include high-precision relative attitude determination between CubeSats, UAV-to-UAV, UAV-to-manned platform, and satellite-to-satellite and ground-to-satellite optical communications.

Non-NASA applications of MICROSTAR include commercial surveillance satellites, space telescopes (DoD), homeland security and law enforcement aerial surveillance, agricultural and geospatial imaging, high data rate FSO communication, and FSO nodes on UAV platforms. The sub-arc-second precision of MICROSTAR could also enable the scientific community to collect high-accuracy astronomical data.

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