A user's guide to the BASD solid-state tracker

The solid-state tracker considered is a precision sensor capable of determining optical image locations to less than 40 parts per million or one percent of a pixel element in a 256x256-square-pixel field of view (FOV). This can be interpreted to be better than one arc second in an eight-degree round FOV as in a standard star tracker application. The present paper provides a short description of recent solid-state sensor development, and a design outline for the spacecraft attitude system designer. Attention is given to a number of recent systems, details regarding the solid-state tracker system, an overview of design tradeoff parameters, weight and volume considerations, aspects of star catalog selection, noise equivalent angle versus update time, rate considerations, and limited magnitude considerations.