In order to accelerate the evolution of faster, better, cheaper spacecraft, it is evident that greatly enhanced general-purpose attitude determination methods are needed Currently, star tracker sensors based on charge coupled devices (CCD) or active pixel sensors(APS) enable one to obtain the best spacecraft attitude estimation among the existing sensors for attitude determination. In this paper, basic principles of star tracker technology are explained including major issues arising in design and development of star tracker. Also, an historical overview and worldwide survey associated with various star trackers from star scanner through microelectromechanical system(MEMS)-based star tracker is offered.