SkyPASS Next-Gen Single Aperture Day/Night Compass with Sky Polarization and Star Tracking

The increasing vulnerability of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in contested environments has underscored the need for robust and reliable navigation solutions that operate seamlessly in GPS-denied or degraded conditions. This challenge is particularly relevant for the forward observer (FO) and targeting platforms. Traditional celestial navigation sensors suffer in adverse weather, in urban environments, under canopy, and have limited performance in twilight.  Polaris Sensor Technologies, Inc. (Polaris) proposes to develop a rugged, handheld, dual-mode celestial compass that combines star-based navigation at night with daytime polarization tracking in a single optical channel. Leveraging a polarization-sensitive imaging chip and Polaris’ field-proven sky polarization and star tracking algorithms, the proposed prototype shall fill the twilight navigation gap in GPS-denied environments and deliver consistent heading estimates less than 2 mrads (0.1125degrees) during the day (partial), in twilight, and at night.