Determination of the Sun position onboard the spacecraft by photoelectric solar sensor

The preprint deals with the development of a mathematical model of the solar sensor on the basis of photoelectric elements to the spacecraft attitude motion to construct and maintain a constant solar orientation (CSO).
A mathematical model that allows to form the output of the sensor in the form of analog currents (or voltages) depending on the Sun position relative to the sensor is developed, as well as algorithms that restore the Sun position by magnitude of output currents of photoelectric cells in the instrument coordinate system.
A statistical analysis was carried out to estimate the performance of spacecraft control algorithms at construction and maintenance of the CSO mode together with a mathematical model of the sensor and algorithms for restoring the position of the Sun for different initial spacecraft orientation relative to the Sun.