Qualification of affordable open-source analog and digital Sun sensors for CubeSats

Marius Anger; Bruce Clayhills; Nemanja Jovanovic; Anton Fetzer; Petri Niemelä; Christoffer Kauppinen; Jaan Praks

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2026.01.083

Qualification of affordable open-source analog and digital Sun sensors for CubeSats

Marius Anger^*
, Bruce Clayhills
, Nemanja Jovanovic
, Anton Fetzer
, Petri Niemelä
, Christoffer Kauppinen
, Jaan Praks

^*Corresponding author for this work

BA6201 RF microsystems

Aalto University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper presents the qualification of affordable, open-source analog (PSS) and digital Sun sensors (DSS) for CubeSats, which aim to provide cost-effective and accessible attitude determination solutions for small satellite missions. The study evaluates the performance, reliability, and suitability of these sensors in space-like conditions, addressing key factors such as accuracy, thermal stability, and radiation tolerance. Experimental results demonstrate that the PSS can achieve better than 5° precision over a field of view of 100° while maintaining low costs and power consumption. The DSS shows a precision better than 0.5° over a field of view of 36° using a photolithographically patterned optical aperture acting as a pinhole. The research highlights the potential of these sensors to democratize access to space technology, supporting academic and commercial CubeSat missions with accessible and effective attitude determination solutions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	7352-7372
Number of pages	21
Journal	Advances in Space Research
Volume	77
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2026.01.083
Publication status	Published - 2026
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

The following work was performed as part of and financed by the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space (FORESAIL), which is a project under the Research Council of Finland decision numbers 336805 to 336809.

Keywords

CubeSat
Qualification
Radiation
Sun sensors
Testing

Access to Document

10.1016/j.asr.2026.01.083Licence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{51b710f0317e4a82951779a26ec89b04,

title = "Qualification of affordable open-source analog and digital Sun sensors for CubeSats",

abstract = "This paper presents the qualification of affordable, open-source analog (PSS) and digital Sun sensors (DSS) for CubeSats, which aim to provide cost-effective and accessible attitude determination solutions for small satellite missions. The study evaluates the performance, reliability, and suitability of these sensors in space-like conditions, addressing key factors such as accuracy, thermal stability, and radiation tolerance. Experimental results demonstrate that the PSS can achieve better than 5° precision over a field of view of 100° while maintaining low costs and power consumption. The DSS shows a precision better than 0.5° over a field of view of 36° using a photolithographically patterned optical aperture acting as a pinhole. The research highlights the potential of these sensors to democratize access to space technology, supporting academic and commercial CubeSat missions with accessible and effective attitude determination solutions.",

keywords = "CubeSat, Qualification, Radiation, Sun sensors, Testing",

author = "Marius Anger and Bruce Clayhills and Nemanja Jovanovic and Anton Fetzer and Petri Niemel{\"a} and Christoffer Kauppinen and Jaan Praks",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of COSPAR.",

year = "2026",

doi = "10.1016/j.asr.2026.01.083",

language = "English",

volume = "77",

pages = "7352--7372",

journal = "Advances in Space Research",

issn = "0273-1177",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "6",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Qualification of affordable open-source analog and digital Sun sensors for CubeSats

AU - Anger, Marius

AU - Clayhills, Bruce

AU - Jovanovic, Nemanja

AU - Fetzer, Anton

AU - Niemelä, Petri

AU - Kauppinen, Christoffer

AU - Praks, Jaan

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - This paper presents the qualification of affordable, open-source analog (PSS) and digital Sun sensors (DSS) for CubeSats, which aim to provide cost-effective and accessible attitude determination solutions for small satellite missions. The study evaluates the performance, reliability, and suitability of these sensors in space-like conditions, addressing key factors such as accuracy, thermal stability, and radiation tolerance. Experimental results demonstrate that the PSS can achieve better than 5° precision over a field of view of 100° while maintaining low costs and power consumption. The DSS shows a precision better than 0.5° over a field of view of 36° using a photolithographically patterned optical aperture acting as a pinhole. The research highlights the potential of these sensors to democratize access to space technology, supporting academic and commercial CubeSat missions with accessible and effective attitude determination solutions.

AB - This paper presents the qualification of affordable, open-source analog (PSS) and digital Sun sensors (DSS) for CubeSats, which aim to provide cost-effective and accessible attitude determination solutions for small satellite missions. The study evaluates the performance, reliability, and suitability of these sensors in space-like conditions, addressing key factors such as accuracy, thermal stability, and radiation tolerance. Experimental results demonstrate that the PSS can achieve better than 5° precision over a field of view of 100° while maintaining low costs and power consumption. The DSS shows a precision better than 0.5° over a field of view of 36° using a photolithographically patterned optical aperture acting as a pinhole. The research highlights the potential of these sensors to democratize access to space technology, supporting academic and commercial CubeSat missions with accessible and effective attitude determination solutions.

KW - CubeSat

KW - Qualification

KW - Radiation

KW - Sun sensors

KW - Testing

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105030727135

U2 - 10.1016/j.asr.2026.01.083

DO - 10.1016/j.asr.2026.01.083

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105030727135

SN - 0273-1177

VL - 77

SP - 7352

EP - 7372

JO - Advances in Space Research

JF - Advances in Space Research

IS - 6

ER -

Qualification of affordable open-source analog and digital Sun sensors for CubeSats

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this