Robust Positioning, Preliminary Orbit Determination, and Trajectory Prediction of Space Debris using In-Space Iterative-Bearing-Only Observations

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the preliminary localisation, orbit determination and model-based path forecasting of space debris based on a robust procedure. In this work, an in-orbit observer utilises only relative bearing observations iteratively. To this end, the problem is first formulated in order to calculate the distance vector between the space debris and any orbiting observer. Afterwards, the obtained position vector is corrected through an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) for shrinking the sensor and process errors and increasing robustness of the computations in the presence of uncertainties. After preliminary positioning, the related classical orbital elements are acquired via the predicted position and velocity vectors using a hybrid technique. Extensive simulations demonstrate the efficacy and robustness of the aforementioned method, and in particular it is verified that the proposed scheme is capable of producing a suitable solution for preliminary localisation and orbit determination of space debris based on the presented space-based observation, which is practical in phasing and chasing manoeuvres of any grabber space robot. K E Y

Observability analysis of autonomous relative navigation system for small celestial body detection based on sequence images

“…分析结果表明, 对于线性相对轨道动力学, 在无辅助 机动条件下仅角度测量无法完备估计目标运动状态, 文献 [2,3]均验证了这一结论. 此后, Geller和Lovell [4] 以 及Atashgah等人 [5] 证明了当相对轨道动力学和非线性 测量公式在圆柱坐标系下描述时, 无需进行轨道机动 也可以通过序列图像获得完备的目标位置信息. Kauf-man等人 [6] 基于李导数建立了基于单目视觉的编队航 天器相对导航系统可观测性矩阵, 分析结果表明, 序列 图像相对导航系统可观测性与轨道流形相关, 对于近 地轨道航天器, 当轨道流形满足特殊几何条件时, 基 于序列图像的相对导航系统是局部弱可观测的.…”