A method for the automatic correction of alignment errors in individual star trackers (R, S) of
star tracker systems (1) is provided. The correction of orientation errors is necessary whenever it is not possible to
mount the star trackers of the
star tracker system on a shared stable block of a platform. Orientation errors can arise due to installation deviations and deformation of the platform, for instance, caused by mechanical loads or temperature fluctuations. A
star tracker (R) that is attached in a very stable manner to the platform serves as the reference tracker. The orientation that it measures constitutes the reference information. An
error signal and an orientation matrix are derived from the measured orientation of the other star trackers, thereby effectuating the correction of the coordinate systems of the star trackers that are to be corrected, and thus of their measured quantities. The resulting orientation as the starting quantity of the star tracker
system is then calculated on the basis of the orientation information of the reference tracker and of the other star trackers. The linking of the measured results of the individual star trackers can take place on the level of the star vectors of a star catalog, on the level of preprocessed tracker signals or on the level of the quaternions and / or on the level
Euler angles.