Hybrid Guidance Sensor

As part of an ongoing development of space-based sensors for autonomous rendezvous and docking, AOS has developed a Hybrid Guidance Sensor. The laser-based sensor combines the space-validated Advanced Video Guidance Sensor, the ULTOR® video processor, and the Wide-Angle Laser Rangefinder developed under the Rendezvous and Docking Sensor System (RDSS) project.

The combined sensor will have improved performance while decreasing the power, mass, and footprint of the three separate sensors. HGS will work with both spacecraft that have cooperative retro-reflective targets and those that do not have such targets. We have completed the HGS initial design and have built a ground-based prototype that, as a first step, combines AVGS and ULTOR®.