An optical tracker for an orbiting tethered system

In orbital tethered satellite systems, the sensors used in control maneuvers provide very little information about the response of the tether at its attachment point. In order to study deployment, sensors to track the tether need to be developed. A review of the design of a sensor which tracks the motion of the tether near its attachment point is presented. Both optical and electronic instrumentation designs are discussed, along with hardware implementation and design considerations used in the construction of the real-time tether tracker. Initial results with a laboratory prototype are also presented