Unscented Kalman filter-based method for spacecraft navigation using resident space objects

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-205
Author(s):  
Matthew Driedger ◽  
Michael Rososhansky ◽  
Philip Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Kalman Filter ◽  
Unscented Kalman Filter ◽  
Spacecraft Navigation ◽  
Space Objects ◽  
Resident Space Objects

Geomagnetic orbit determination: EKF or UKF?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Wu ◽  
Ming Liu ◽  
Chengxi Zhang ◽  
Yulong Huang ◽  
Zebo Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Kalman Filter ◽  
Orbit Determination ◽  
Unscented Kalman Filter ◽  
Nonlinear Models ◽  
Computational Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spacecraft Navigation ◽  
Highly Nonlinear ◽  
Autonomous Orbit Determination ◽  
Spherical Harmonic Models

Purpose Autonomous orbit determination using geomagnetic measurements is an important backup technique for safe spacecraft navigation with a mere magnetometer. The geomagnetic model is used for the state estimation of orbit elements, but this model is highly nonlinear. Therefore, many efforts have been paid to developing nonlinear filters based on extended Kalman filter (EKF) and unscented Kalman filter (UKF). This paper aims to analyze whether to use UKF or EKF in solving the geomagnetic orbit determination problem and try to give a general conclusion. Design/methodology/approach This paper revisits the problem and from both the theoretical and engineering results, the authors show that the EKF and UKF show identical estimation performances in the presence of nonlinearity in the geomagnetic model. Findings While EKF consumes less computational time, the UKF is computationally inefficient but owns better accuracy for most nonlinear models. It is also noted that some other navigation techniques are also very similar with the geomagnetic orbit determination. Practical implications The intrinsic reason of such equivalence is because of the orthogonality of the spherical harmonics which has not been discovered in previous studies. Thus, the applicability of the presented findings are not limited only to the major problem in this paper but can be extended to all those schemes with spherical harmonic models. Originality/value The results of this paper provide a fact that there is no need to choose UKF as a preferred candidate in orbit determination. As UKF achieves almost the same accuracy as that of EKF, its loss in computational efficiency will be a significant obstacle in real-time implementation.

scholarly journals Unscented Kalman Filter and Control in TSE(3) with Applications to Spacecraft Dynamics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Michael Wittal ◽  
Gennaro Mangiacapra ◽  
Morad Nazari ◽  
Elisa Capello
Keyword(s):  
Kalman Filter ◽  
Control System ◽  
Unscented Kalman Filter ◽  
Compact Set ◽  
Spacecraft Dynamics ◽  
Euclidean Group ◽  
Spacecraft Navigation ◽  
Full State ◽  
Navigation And Control ◽  
And Control

Abstract This paper presents a novel rigid-body spacecraft navigation and control architecture within the framework of special Euclidean group SE(3) and its tangent bundle TSE(3) while considering stochastic processes in the system. The proposed framework combines the orbit-attitude motions of the spacecraft into a single, compact set. The stochastic state filter is designed based on the unscented Kalman filter which uses a special retraction function to encode the sigma points onto the manifold. The navigation system is then integrated to an almost globally asymptotically stabilizing Morse-Lyapunov-based control system with backstepping. Numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed navigation filter for the full state estimation. In addition, the navigation and control system is tested in the nonlinear gravity field of a small celestial body with an irregular shape. In particular, the performance of the closed-loop system is studied in a tracking problem of spacecraft motion near the asteroid Bennu based on the OSIRIS-REx's mission data.

scholarly journals The Ad Hoc Back-End of the BIRALET Radar to Measure Slant-Range and Doppler Shift of Resident Space Objects

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 577
Author(s):  
Luca Schirru ◽  
Tonino Pisanu ◽  
Angelo Podda
Keyword(s):  
Doppler Shift ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Slant Range ◽  
Radar Systems ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Space Objects ◽  
Resident Space Objects ◽  
Potential Issue

Space debris is a term for all human-made objects orbiting the Earth or reentering the atmosphere. The population of space debris is continuously growing and it represents a potential issue for active satellites and spacecraft. New collisions and fragmentation could exponentially increase the amount of debris and so the level of risk represented by these objects. The principal technique used for the debris monitoring, in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) between 200 km and 2000 km of altitude, is based on radar systems. The BIRALET system represents one of the main Italian radars involved in resident space objects observations. It is a bi-static radar, which operates in the P-band at 410–415 MHz, that uses the Sardinia Radio Telescope as receiver. In this paper, a detailed description of the new ad hoc back-end developed for the BIRALET radar, with the aim to perform slant-range and Doppler shift measurements, is presented. The new system was successfully tested in several validation measurement campaigns, the results of which are reported and discussed.

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