Operations of a non-stellar object tracker in space

The ability to detect and track non-stellar objects by utilizing a star tracker may seem rather straight forward, as any bright object, not recognized as a star by the system is a non stellar object. However, several pitfalls and errors exist, if a reliable and robust detection is required. To test the operation, performance and robustness of such a function, the Autonomous Vision System (AVS), a fully autonomous star tracker that has flown onboard the Teamsat was equipped with several advanced features. These features included a non-stellar object detection and tracking module and an image and science data compression module. This paper describes the AVS, sensitivity, and possible detection ranges for various objects. The general description is followed by examples of images and tracking series obtained by the AVS on Teamsat.