ESA GNC Conference Papers Repository

In July 2008 the SELEX Galileo “AA-STR” APS based Star Tracker successfully completed its on ground qualification campaign. In November 2009 the launch of Proba-2, an mission dedicated to the in-flight demonstration of innovative technologies, allowed the AA-STR to finally reach TRL-9. After more than 18 months of in-flight life on board Proba-2, in this paper are presented the measured in-flight performance of this Flight Demo sensor, which is the first star sensor based on the new APS CMOS detector technology ever flown. The Flight Demo sensor in-flight results are presented in comparison with respect to the design specifications and with special emphasis on any trend observed on the sensor and/or on the APS detector behaviour. The AA-STR sensor product of SELEX Galileo, although initially developed for the AlphaBus GEO Telecommunication spacecraft, demonstrated a large flexibility and, even if it was presented on the market quite recently, already found applications in Scientific, Earth Observation and Commercial programs.