Back to the catalog
Spinoff story
Tiny Star Trackers Help Spacecraft Find Their Place
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
NASA tackles some of the universe’s biggest questions, and the tools it needs are often big, in size and cost. But Crofton, Maryland-based Adcole Maryland Aerospace, with SBIR funding from Goddard Space Flight Center, has designed a modern take on an ancient navigation device that is tiny, cheap, and potentially revolutionary. The device, a “space sextant,” fits inside a CubeSat but can match the accuracy of much larger instruments. The company now sells it in a variety of configurations, primarily for Earth-observation satellites.