A rotary-scan space camera with an area sensor can achieve large width and high-resolution imaging. Designing system parameters properly is important for the application of the rotary-scan space camera. We model the swath, resolution, and overlap rate between frames for such a camera. An optimum algorithm combining the linear weighting method and the Monte Carlo method for system parameter design is proposed based on the model. Then, the performance of the designed system is evaluated using the grid point method. The designed systems can achieve swaths of more than 1000 km and less than 1 m resolution without leakage during the imaging. In the evaluation, the designed system can cover 82.13% of the observation region at the height of 500 km in 6.5 min, and the average repeated observation frequency is 3.26 times per 118 s. The design method is simple and effective in the initial design of the rotary-scan space camera's system parameters. The system designed can provide "no-leakage and wide coverage by quick scan" and "high-frequency repeated observation over a long visibility period." This will greatly improve earth observation ability in wide-area search and rescue missions.
Keywords: earth observation; large swath and high resolution; parameter design; rotary-scan.