Radio Frequency sensor fusion for relative navigation of formation flying satellites
Abstract
The increasing need for robustness, reliability and flexibility of relative navigation systems imposed by the current and future autonomous formation flying missions, calls for the implementation of solutions using an alternative approach to single-sensor systems. These schemes possess different levels of availability, mainly driven by sensor failure and mission orbit profiles. The data obtained from the global positioning system (GPS) and formation flying radio-frequency (FFRF) sensors from the nominal phase of the PRISMA mission provide an opportunity for the implementation of an extended approach for the generation of relative navigation solutions. The present study introduces the design of a simple relative navigation filter based on the sensor fusion concept, which makes use of differential GPS and FFRF measurements obtained from the on-board sensors. The filter design uses the Hill-Clohessy-Wiltshire and Yamanaka-Ankersen relative dynamics models as well as numerical integration methods including the J2-perturbation for the state and associated covariance matrix propagation. The design is tested using flight data obtained during representative formation flying operations of the PRISMA mission.
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Navigation systems for close-proximity operations have been extensively validated for RF and monocular vision navigation for FF and on-orbit servicing when the target is cooperative.
“Navigation systems for close-proximity operations have been extensively validated in the context of RF and monocular vision navigation for FF and on-orbit ser-630 vicing, when the target is cooperative [64,1,65,61,66].”
From Review of the robustness and applicability of monocular pose estimation systems for relative navigation with an uncooperative spacecraft (2019) · cites this paper as [65]
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- Authors
- Alba, G. A., D', S., Amico, N. A., & Montenbruck, O.
- Affiliations
- Stanford University (US)
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) (DE)
- ORCID
- Montenbruck, Oliver
- Venue
- International Journal of Space Science and Engineering
- Publisher
- Inderscience Publishers
- Published
- 2015
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 129
- ISSN
- 2048-8459 (ISSN-L)
- 2048-8467
- OpenAlex
- W162992591
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Space Science and Engineering (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Spacecraft Dynamics and Control
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Space Satellite Systems and Control
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › GNSS positioning and interference
- Keywords
- relative navigation, satellite formation flying, sensor fusion, radio frequency sensors, differential GPS, PRISMA mission, J2 perturbation, covariance propagation
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