The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 14, 1987
Filed:
Jul. 20, 1984
Michitaka Kosaka, Sagamihara, JP;
Satoshi Mohri, Kawasaki, JP;
Katsumi Kawano, Tokyo, JP;
Toshiro Sasaki, Kawasaki, JP;
Shoji Miyamoto, Kawasaki, JP;
Takashi Nakajima, Tokyo, JP;
Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An apparatus for determining attitude of a satellite by using a star sensor includes a ground terminal equipped with a data processing unit and star catalogue, a star sensor, an estimating the unit for estimating attitude of the satellite and a decision unit for deciding the attitude determination mode I or II in dependence on attitude stability of the satellite. In the mode I, angles representative of the satellite attitude are estimated by the estimating unit on the basis of a star sub-catalogue prepared by utilizing a priori information. In the mode II, the attitude angles are estimated by the data processing unit through data transaction with the ground terminal without resorting to the use of the priori information.