System and method for increasing the roll offset operating range for a spacecraft

A method for increasing the roll offset operating range for a spacecraft using an earth sensor operating in single scan mode includes the steps of moving the spacecraft to a first roll position, which has a roll angle that will cause the earth sensor to have a desired standard chord, switching the earth sensor to single scan mode by deselecting one of the earth sensor scans, whereby switching the earth sensor to a single scan mode, the earth sensor standard chord is locked at or near the desired standard chord. After the desired standard chord is set, the spacecraft is moved to a second roll position, which is a desired roll offset operating position for the spacecraft, and the earth sensor roll output (generated by using the single scan mode) is used to calculate the spacecraft roll at the roll offset operating position.