Technology for determining the local vertical of nanosatellite by processing videoimages of the Earth horizon

This paper describes the algorithm for determining the local vertical for nanosatellite, based on the sight of the horizon of the Earth in the visible wavelength range. The application of this algorithm will allow determining the direction of the local vertical to within 1 degree. The results of numerical experiments show that the proposed algorithm works in a wide range of orientation angles. The article also examines the semi-natural experiment to determine the pitch angle by processing the video coming from the camera. The experiment showed that the horizon sensor based on this algorithm would have an accuracy less than 1 degree in the area of ±20 degrees pitch and ±20 degrees yaw.