Infrared and Laser Engineering, Volume. 54, Issue 3, 20240572(2025)

Research on the vertical installation and adjustment of large-aperture space optical remote sensing camera (invited)

Liqing YUE1... Bin LI1, Chongyang LI1, Wenjin WU1, Junhang LIU1, Chao ZHANG1,2 and Liqiang YAO1 |Show fewer author(s)
Author Affiliations
  • 1Beijing Institute of Space Mechanics & Electricity, Beijing 100094, China
  • 2College of Astronautics, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
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    Significance In recent years, China has completed the development of many remote sensing models, and the maximum aperture of remote sensing cameras in orbit has exceeded 1 meter, the manufacturing level of remote sensing cameras with the same caliber has basically caught up with the international advanced level. And the assembly and adjustment cycle of a remote sensing camera is about 90 days, which can meet the needs of a small number of tasks. As the construction of remote sensing constellations characterized by "large quantities" has become the mainstream, the current production mode has a series of problems such as long cycle and low level of automation, which cannot meet the needs of high-efficiency assembly and adjustment under the development of large-scale remote sensing cameras. In order to realize the high-efficiency manufacturing of large-aperture remote sensing cameras, a vertical assembly and adjustment technical route applied to large-aperture cameras was proposed, and on this basis, a series of technical problems such as accurate assembly and positioning of large-aperture mirrors, gravitational error elimination, and camera optical axis datum elimination in the vertical state of optical axis were solved, which laid a technical foundation for the construction of an intelligent vertical assembly and adjustment unit.Progress Compared with the traditional horizontal alignment mode of optical axis, the vertical alignment of the optical axis of the remote sensing camera has a subversive change. 1) High-precision assembly technology for large-aperture mirror: Large-aperture mirrors are typically supported in a "discrete" type, as shown in Figure 2. The connection between the mirror and the camera structure is usually in the form of a plastic cup and a rubber rod, which avoids the gasket repair process of the traditional screw connection method.In addition, the traditional optical axis datum centering can be replaced by adjusting the length of the support rod between the mirror and the camera support structure, as shown in Figure 4. In this way, the cycle time for assembly and adjustment can be effectively shortened. 2) Gravity error rejection technology: Through finite element modeling of the mirror and its supporting structure, the deformation of the mirror component in the gravity environment is analyzed. Based on this,the mirror component is flipped forward and backward 180°, and the surface parameters of the mirror in the two states are tested, the true gravity error of the mirror assembly is finally determined. The test process is shown in Figure 7. 3) Optical axis datum extraction technology: At present, the method of multi-device joint networking is usually used to test the external reference of remote sensing cameras, as shown in Figure 8.In the future, the construction of remote sensing constellation will become the mainstream, so it is necessary to carry out research on intelligent assembly and adjustment technology. The third chapter of this paper expounds the construction ideas and system composition of the intelligent detection unit of optical components and the intelligent assembly and adjustment unit of the lens. It provides a reference for the intelligent assembly and adjustment of remote sensors in the future.Conclusions and Prospects The breakthrough of the key technology of vertical assembly and adjustment of remote sensing cameras and the successful construction of intelligent assembly and adjustment units can be applied to the subsequent development of various medium-caliber and large-aperture remote sensing cameras, which can meet the assembly and adjustment needs of different types and batches of remote sensing products, especially for the development of large-scale remote sensing cameras, such as low-orbit high-density remote sensing constellations, etc., which have strong guidance.

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    Liqing YUE, Bin LI, Chongyang LI, Wenjin WU, Junhang LIU, Chao ZHANG, Liqiang YAO. Research on the vertical installation and adjustment of large-aperture space optical remote sensing camera (invited)[J]. Infrared and Laser Engineering, 2025, 54(3): 20240572

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    Paper Information

    Category: Special issue—She power

    Received: Dec. 10, 2024

    Accepted: --

    Published Online: Apr. 8, 2025

    The Author Email:

    DOI:10.3788/IRLA20240572

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