CubeSat Autonomous Orbit Determination Based on Magnetometer and Sun Sensor Data

CubeSats have evolved from purely educational tools to a standard platform for technology demonstration,scientific instrumentation and application in less than a decade.They open the door to new challenges and interplanetary missions which lead to the direct realization of autonomous orbit determination(AOD)which has been investigated before with different integrated sensors combined with various filters.Mostly these studies were carried out for larger satellites with more accurate sensors.Magnetometer and sun sensor combined with extended Kalman filter(EKF)are chosen to complete AOD task considering their light weight.For the purpose of AOD and the computational cost requirements imposed on CubeSats,it is important to develop and apply low cost on-board models.In this perspective,a magnetic model based on a table look up is proposed to generate the reference magnetic field with a low computational burden.In current article the simulations through Matlab and Satellites Tool Kit(STK)especially focus on the accuracy of the AOD system provided by this model.For analysis three EKFs are carried out with different calculation models and data types.The system based on the proposed model is fully autonomous,low-cost and has moderate-accuracy required by most CubeSats missions.The AOD system can be applied as main or backup system depending on the space missions′demands.

Autonomous orbit determination for the probe around small body

The algorithm of autonomous orbit determination for the probe around small body is studied. In the algorithm, first, the observed images of the body are compared with its pre-computed model of the body to obtain the location of the limb features of the body in the inertial coordinate. Second, the information of the images and features in utilized to obtain the position of the probe using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. The position is then input to an extended Kalman filter which determines the real time orbit of the probe. Finally, considering the effective of the irregular small body shape perturbation and the small body model parameter error on the orbit determination precise, the procedure of autonomous orbit determination is validated using digital simulation.

Autonomous orbit determination using epoch-differenced gravity gradients and starlight refraction

Autonomous orbit determination via integration of epoch-differenced gravity gradients and starlight refraction is proposed in this paper for low-Earth-orbiting satellites operating in GPSdenied environments. Starlight refraction compensates for the significant along-track position error that occurs from only using gravity gradients and benefits from integration in terms of improved accuracy in radial and cross-track position estimates. The between-epoch differencing of gravity gradients is employed to eliminate slowly varying measurement biases and noise near the orbit revolution frequency. The refraction angle measurements are directly used and its Jacobian matrix derived from an implicit observation equation. An information fusion filter based on a sequential extended Kalman filter is developed for the orbit determination. Truth-model simulations are used to test the performance of the algorithm, and the effects of differencing intervals and orbital heights are analyzed. A semi-simulation study using actual gravity gradient data from the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer（GOCE） combined with simulated starlight refraction measurements is further conducted, and a three-dimensional position accuracy of better than 100 m is achieved.

Feasibility study of autonomous orbit determination using only the crosslink range measurement for a combined navigation constellation

In order to expand the coverage area of satellite navigation systems, a combined navigation constellation which is formed by a global navigation constellation and a Lagrangian navigation constellation was studied. Only the crosslink range measurement was used to achieve long-term precise autonomous orbit determination for the combined navigation constellation, and the measurement model was derived. Simulations of 180 days based on the international global navigation satellite system（GNSS） service（IGS） ephemeris showed that the mentioned autonomous orbit determination method worked well in the Earth–Moon system. Statistical results were used to analyze the accuracy of autonomous orbit determination under the influences of different Lagrangian satellite constellations.