Enhanced space integrated GPS/INS (SIGI)

Safe, reliable, and low cost space-based navigation is being provided with embedded INS/GPS systems such as the space integrated GPS/INS (SIGI). The SIGI is being used for various space vehicle applications such as launch vehicles, orbital vehicles, and re-entry vehicles. This paper describes current space vehicle navigation capabilities. The SIGI is being enhanced to provide additions to these existing capabilities with such items as higher processing and a commercial-off-the-shelf operating system. This will allow hosting of various software applications such as advanced navigation functions, flight control, guidance and vehicle management algorithms. The SIGI can host redundancy management functions by incorporating a cross channel data link card (CCDL) using a high speed firewire bus. The SIGI can then be used as a redundancy management platform which has application to current space vehicle avionics topologies incorporating distributed processing architectures     

Autonomous GPS/INS navigation experiment for space transfer vehicle

An experiment is described to validate the concept of developing an autonomous integrated spacecraft navigation system using onboard Global Positioning System (GPS) and inertial navigation system (INS) measurements. Previous work by the authors (1988, 1990) has demonstrated the feasibility of integrating GPS measurements with INS measurements to provide a total improvement in spacecraft navigation performance, i.e., improvement in position, velocity and attitude information. An important aspect of this research is the automatic real-time reconfiguration capability of the system, which is designed to respond to changes in a spacecraft mission under the control of an expert system     

编队飞行航天器的测量通信一体化系统--射频收发器

航天编队飞行必须测定队列的相对位置、姿态和时间,还必须有适当手段在航天器间交换工程数据和科学实验数据。研究和开发射频收发器对于我国发展航天编队飞行技术有特别的紧迫性和现实的意义。本文介绍并分析了国外在研的射频收发器研发情况,提出以实现星上测量、通信、制导、导航和控制一体化为最终目标,逐步、有层次、分阶段地开发射频收发器技术的系列思考和建议。     

飞行器测控通信技术发展趋势与建议

在研究国内外测控通信技术现状与发展动态的基础上,梳理出未来测控通信发展趋势：将走向综合化网络、高精度和航天器自主导航,发展光学测控通信技术,提升跟踪与数据中继能力,建设天基靶场,加强安全防护,以及设备高度综合化、数字化、软件化和低成本等;结合我国测控通信技术发展遇到的技术“瓶颈”与挑战,探讨了当前我国测控通信发展面临的主要任务：制定顶层规划,继续提升技术水平,满足新平台新任务测控需求,探索新概念与前沿技术等;最后,提出了我国测控通信重点发展方向及其关键技术的建议.     

天地一体化飞行器测控通信网络体系构建

空间信息综合应用是未来航天的发展趋势,引进网络化技术,打造天地一体化测控通信网是实现信息综合应用的必由之路.一体化测控通信网作为空间信息传输、分发的公共基础设施,将各类飞行器、地/海/空/天基测控站（接收站）及指控中心、测控中心、用户等都作为网中的标准节点,以实现测控通信任务统一指挥控制、飞行器态势综合显示、测控通信资源综合利用和可持续发展.从新时期航天科技的发展特点得出,空间网络化是必然发展趋势.总结了国内外航天网络化发展的研究成果,提出测控通信网络化的定义、未来体系结构以及实施步骤,设计了空间网络化飞行验证试验的基本方案,剖析了空间网络化体系构建的关键技术.     

U. S. Navy in Space: Past, Present, and Future

The announcement last summer of the establishment of the U. S. Navy Space Command, and its subsequent activation at Dahlgren, Va., in October 1983, may have come as a surprise to some. This, however, was the latest of a series of actions taken by the Department of the Navy over the last several years to consolidate the Navy's space efforts. In fact, since the beginning of the Space Age, the Navy has been interested in space and involved in space-related activities. Its contributions in space science and technology have been significant. Driven by a realization that space assets are exceptionally well matched to its global mission, the Navy has become a major user of space. Primary areas of current activity include command, control, and communication and navigation and collection of environmental information. The Navy's operational use of space systems, the nature of the evolving Soviet threat (both air and space) directed in a large measure at U. S. naval targets, and the recent advances made in space technology, all argue for an increased level of Navy involvement in future Department of Defense space activities to secure Navy interests. As viewed by Navy decision-makers, this increased level of involvement will be selective in nature, emphasizing space research and development and operations that are considered vital to Navy interests.     

Accurate and autonomous navigation for the ATV

The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is a European spacecraft intended to service the International Space Station (ISS). It is designed to perform automated phasing, approach, rendezvous and docking to the ISS, then departure and deorbitation manoeuvres. Such an automated rendezvous mission towards a manned facility raises severe performance and safety constraints for the vehicle, which are declined towards the on-board Navigation in terms of availability, accuracy and failure tolerance: the ATV shall be operational after any first failure and safe conditions shall be reached after a second failure. The whole ATV navigation system has been designed to fulfil these very stringent requirements. Based on fully redundant hardware, the navigation algorithms present optimal estimators and multi-layers Failure, Detection, Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) capabilities to ensure the continuity of the state vector in case of failure. Several functions provide state vectors estimations and health reports, according to the flight phase: the attitude and drift estimation function provides the vehicle absolute attitude and angular rate during the whole flight; for the far rendezvous, position and velocity relative to the ISS are estimated by the relative GPS navigation and a dedicated relative navigation with Videometer applies in close rendezvous, in the final approach. All these autonomous navigation functions offer nevertheless a high level of monitoring and control to the ATV Control Centre operators. Thus the ATV innovative navigation chain provides the high level of performance, robustness and autonomy required by modern spacecrafts involved in human programs, today in Earth orbit but also for future space exploration missions.     

通过全球专利分析看深空探测 自主导航与控制技术发展

深空探测作为人类航天活动的重要方向,是人类探索宇宙奥秘和寻求长久发展的必然途径,也是衡量一个国家综合国力和科学技术发展水平的重要标志.作为深空探测中的一类重要技术,自主导航与控制技术越来越多地受到关注并得到应用,成为各国深空探测技术研究和发展的热点之一.以深空探测自主导航与控制技术为对象,通过专利检索分析,研究国内外发展现状,试图获得技术趋势.     

航天器自主导航状态估计方法研究综述

自主导航是航天器自主运行的核心关键技术。状态估计是实现航天器自主导航的核心手段,是指实时确定航天器在轨位置、速度和姿态等导航参数,是航天器自主导航技术的重点发展方向之一。首先,针对航天器自主导航的实际需求,阐述了研究航天器自主导航状态估计方法的必要性,具体从导航系统可观测性分析、导航滤波算法、导航系统误差补偿3个方面介绍了航天器自主导航状态估计方法的研究现状;然后,分析并总结状态估计方法在航天器自主导航系统中的实际应用;最后,结合理论研究和实际应用,给出了状态估计方法目前存在的主要问题并对其后续发展进行了展望。     

Use of MOBITEX wireless wide area networks as a solution toland-based positioning and navigation

The emergence of land-based positioning and navigation systems is the direct result of advancements in technologies relating to geographic information, wireless data communication, and navigation. The increasing demand for these systems has stimulated their rapid development. This paper identifies the wide variety of land-based positioning and navigation systems and classifies them into five groups. The basic system elements that are required in all land-based positioning and navigation systems are also discussed. A proposed system infrastructure that supports the five types of land-based positioning and navigation systems is described. The specific technologies integrated in this proposed infrastructure include the Global Positioning System (GPS), differential GPS, and the MOBITEX wireless wide area packet data networks. Real-time wireless mobile data communication is a key component of any land-based positioning and navigation system. Finally, the evaluation criteria necessary for field testing a pilot land-based positioning and navigation system are presented. This pilot system is used to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed system design     

Ultra-reliable real-time control systems-future trends

Today's aircraft use ultra-reliable real-time controls for demanding functions such as Fly-By-Wire (FBW) flight control. Future aircraft, spacecraft and other vehicles will require greater use of these types of controls for functions that currently are allowed to fail, fail to degraded operation, or require human intervention in response to failure. Fully automated and autonomous functions will require ultra-reliable control. But ultra-reliable systems are very expensive to design and require large amounts of on-board equipment. This paper will discuss how the use of low-cost sensors with digital outputs, digitally commanded fault-tolerant actuation devices and interconnecting networks of low-cost data buses offer the promise of more affordable ultra-reliable systems. Specific technologies and concepts to be discussed include low-cost automotive and industrial data buses, “smart” actuation devices with integral fault masking capabilities, management of redundant sensors, and the fault detection and diagnosis of the data network. The advantages of integrating the control and distribution of electrical power with the control system will be illustrated. The design, installation, and upgrade flexibility benefits provided by an all-digital and shared network approach will be presented. The economic benefits of systems that can operate following failure and without immediate repair will be reviewed. The inherent ability of these redundant systems to provide effective built-in test and self-diagnostics capabilities will be described. The challenges associated with developing ultra-reliable software for these systems and the difficulties associated with exhaustive verification testing will be presented as will additional development hurdles that must be overcome     

Micromission spacecraft: a low-cost, high-capability platform for space science missions

The Ball Micromission Spacecraft (MSC) is a multi-purpose platform capable of supporting science missions at distances from the Sun ranging from 0.7 to 1.7 AU. In the baseline scenario, MSC is launched as a secondary payload on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, to GTO using the Ariane 5 structure for auxiliary payloads (ASAP5). The maximum launch wet mass is 242 Kg and can include up to 45 Kg of payload depending on AV needs. The on-board propulsion system is used for maneuvering in the Earth-Moon system and injecting the spacecraft into its final orbit or trajectory. For Mars missions, MSC enables orbiting Mars for science payloads and/or communications and navigation assets, or for precision Mars fly-bys to drop up to six probes. The micromissions spacecraft bus can be used for science targets other than Mars, including the Moon, Earth, Venus, Earth-Sun Lagrange points, or other small bodies. This paper summarizes the current spacecraft concept and describes the multimission spacecraft bus implementation in more detail.     

天文光谱测速导航技术与应用思考

随着我国航天技术的发展,航天器对导航系统的精度、自主性、实时性等综合性能需求越来越高。天文光谱测速导航作为近年来提出的新型自主导航技术,具有直接获取航天器速度信息且实时性好、测速精度高等特点,具有广阔的应用前景。在梳理近年来天文光谱测速导航研究进展的基础上,结合天文光谱测速导航的特点,深入思考并提出了若干天文光谱测速导航技术应用组合。基于当前航天任务的需求和研究的难点,结合国内外技术趋势和我国实际工程需求,指出了天文光谱测速导航技术未来的重点研究方向及内容。天文光谱测速导航为我国航天探测工程任务导航提供了一条崭新的技术途径,对天文光谱测速导航技术的持续研究将有力促进我国航天领域导航技术的发展,提升天文导航理论研究能力和工程研制技术水平。     

深空探测器自主技术发展现状与趋势

深空探测器距离地球远、所处环境复杂、苛刻,利用地面测控站进行深空探测器的遥测和遥控已经很难满足探测器控制的实时性和安全性要求。深空探测器自主技术即通过在探测器上构建一个智能自主管理软件系统,自主地进行工程任务与科学任务的规划调度、命令执行、星上状态的监测与故障时的系统重构,完成无人参与情况下的探测器长时间自主安全运行,自主技术已经逐渐成为深空探测领域未来发展的一项关键技术。本文首先分析了传统测控模式对深空探测的约束,回顾了深空探测器自主技术发展的现状,分析了实现深空探测器自主运行的关键技术,包括在轨自主管理系统设计技术、自主任务规划技术、自主导航与控制技术、自主故障处理技术和自主科学任务操作技术。然后结合深空探测工程实施和技术发展需求,提出未来深空探测器自主技术发展的趋势和重点。     

Vision-aided inertial navigation for pinpoint planetary landing

Autonomous and safe landing spacecraft on moon and planetary bodies is a rather difficult and risky task. Accurate relative navigation between the spacecraft and the planetary surface is essential, together with the autonomous hazard detection and avoidance. This paper describes the vision-aided inertial navigation (VAIN) scheme to meet the pinpoint landing requirement of the next generation planetary lander. Images of distinctive surface feature called feature points/landmarks are detected and tracked autonomously to improve the performance of inertial navigation. Landmark image information derived from optical navigation camera and the spacecraft state information sensed by IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) are integrated in extended Kalman filter algorithm. The validity of the proposed navigation scheme is confirmed by computer simulation.     

深空探测器自主技术发展现状与趋势简

 深空探测器距离地球远、所处环境复杂、苛刻,利用地面测控站进行深空探测器的遥测和遥控已经很难满足探测器控制的实时性和安全性要求。深空探测器自主技术即通过在探测器上构建一个智能自主管理软件系统,自主地进行工程任务与科学任务的规划调度、命令执行、星上状态的监测与故障时的系统重构,完成无人参与情况下的探测器长时间自主安全运行,自主技术已经逐渐成为深空探测领域未来发展的一项关键技术。本文首先分析了传统测控模式对深空探测的约束,回顾了深空探测器自主技术发展的现状,分析了实现深空探测器自主运行的关键技术,包括在轨自主管理系统设计技术、自主任务规划技术、自主导航与控制技术、自主故障处理技术和自主科学任务操作技术。然后结合深空探测工程实施和技术发展需求,提出未来深空探测器自主技术发展的趋势和重点。     

Improvement of strapdown inertial navigation using PDAF

A new application of PDAF (probabilistic data association filter) for improving the accuracy of autonomous strapdown inertial navigation systems (SINS) is presented. The proposed method is a terrain-aided navigation (TAN) algorithm based on landmark detection combined with a classical SINS. It is shown via a set of simulations that the method can improve significantly the precision of autonomous navigation if the landmark spatial density and quality of landmark detectors are good enough. This new concept of navigation called PDANF (probabilistic data association navigation filter) can be integrated with a relatively low cost in existing operational TAN systems     

Space Weather and the Ground-Level Solar Proton Events of the 23rd Solar Cycle

Solar proton events can adversely affect space and ground-based systems. Ground-level events are a subset of solar proton events that have a harder spectrum than average solar proton events and are detectable on Earth’s surface by cosmic radiation ionization chambers, muon detectors, and neutron monitors. This paper summarizes the space weather effects associated with ground-level solar proton events during the 23rd solar cycle. These effects include communication and navigation systems, spacecraft electronics and operations, space power systems, manned space missions, and commercial aircraft operations. The major effect of ground-level events that affect manned spacecraft operations is increased radiation exposure. The primary effect on commercial aircraft operations is the loss of high frequency communication and, at extreme polar latitudes, an increase in the radiation exposure above that experienced from the background galactic cosmic radiation. Calculations of the maximum potential aircraft polar route exposure for each ground-level event of the 23rd solar cycle are presented. The space weather effects in October and November 2003 are highlighted together with on-going efforts to utilize cosmic ray neutron monitors to predict high energy solar proton events, thus providing an alert so that system operators can possibly make adjustments to vulnerable spacecraft operations and polar aircraft routes.     

Near term approach to data relay for satellites under test

The increasing need for a continuous communications link with U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) spacecraft during test missions in low Earth orbit (LEG) has resulted in greater interest in geosynchronous data relay services. This may be a more economical alternative to building additional remote tracking stations for the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN), and avoids tying up operational assets for a test mission. A low-cost near-term approach for such a space-based data relay system would utilize two existing Defense Satellite Communication System III spacecraft, two existing ground terminals, and a small, standardized terminal using autonomous antenna pointing for the space vehicle under test. Such a system design is presented     

Hybrid Simulation System Study of SINS/CNS Integrated Navigation

In flight tests, to demonstrate the performance of integrated navigation systems, which are strapdown inertial navigation systems/celestial navigation systems (SINS/CNS), will involve a lot of effort and a heavy financial budget. So, it is important to design a functional self-contained hardware in a loop simulation system on the ground for solving the verification of SINS/CNS integrated navigation systems. Aiming at solving the main program, a high precision, versatile and better real-time performance hybrid simulation system of SINS/CNS integrated navigation is presented. The system adopts the design of hardware-functional modularization and software-flow integration, and makes use of a trajectory generator to produce simulated nominal trajectory data which is a uniform reference to signal process, and employs unique time synchronization algorithms to collect actual errors data of inertial sub-system and celestial sub-system. By combining with nominal trajectory data, the data smoothing, all-sky autonomous star map identification and integrated navigation algorithm based on unscented Kalman filtering (UKF), this system can accomplish a lot of system performance testing. It has the features of flexibility and extensibility and can be used to effectively reduce the experimental expense and shorten the development time of integrated navigation system, which is significant for studying algorithm performance, system speciality, and practical application of integrated navigation system.