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.     

Phase Residual Estimations for PCVs of Spaceborne GPS Receiver Antenna and Their Impacts on Precise Orbit Determination of GRACE Satellites

In-flight phase center systematic errors of global positioning system(GPS) receiver antenna are the main restriction for improving the precision of precise orbit determination using dual-frequency GPS.Residual approach is one of the valid methods for in-flight calibration of GPS receiver antenna phase center variations(PCVs) from ground calibration.In this paper,followed by the correction model of spaceborne GPS receiver antenna phase center,ionosphere-free PCVs can be directly estimated by ionosphere-free carrier phase post-fit residuals of reduced dynamic orbit determination.By the data processing of gravity recovery and climate experiment(GRACE) satellites,the following conclusions are drawn.Firstly,the distributions of ionosphere-free carrier phase post-fit residuals from different periods have the similar systematic characteristics.Secondly,simulations show that the influence of phase residual estimations for ionosphere-free PCVs on orbit determination can reach the centimeter level.Finally,it is shown by in-flight data processing that phase residual estimations of current period could not only be used for the calibration for GPS receiver antenna phase center of foretime and current period,but also be used for the forecast of ionosphere-free PCVs in future period,and the accuracy of orbit determination can be well improved.     

Spaceborne GPS receiver antenna phase center offset and variation estimation for the Shiyan 3 satellite

In determining the orbits of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites using spaceborne GPS, the errors caused by receiver antenna phase center offset (PCO) and phase center variations (PCVs) are gradually becoming a major limiting factor for continued improvements to accuracy. Shiyan 3, a small satellite mission for space technology experimentation and climate exploration, was developed by China and launched on November 5, 2008. The dual-frequency GPS receiver payload delivers 1 Hz data and provides the basis for precise orbit determination within the range of a few centime-ters. The antenna PCO and PCV error characteristics and the principles influencing orbit determi-nation are analyzed. The feasibility of PCO and PCV estimation and compensation in different directions is demonstrated through simulation and in-flight tests. The values of receiver antenna PCO and PCVs for Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and Shiyan 3 satellites are estimated from one month of data. A large and stable antenna PCO error, reaching up to 10.34 cm in the z-direction, is found with the Shiyan 3 satellite. The PCVs on the Shiyan 3 satellite are estimated and reach up to 3.0 cm, which is slightly larger than that of GRACE satellites. Orbit validation clearly improved with independent k-band ranging (KBR) and satellite laser ranging (SLR) measurements. For GRACE satellites, the average root mean square (RMS) of KBR resid-uals improved from 1.01 cm to 0.88 cm. For the Shiyan 3 satellite, the average RMS of SLR resid-uals improved from 4.95 cm to 4.06 cm.     

DOA estimation for attitude determination on communication satellites

In order to determine an appropriate attitude of three-axis stabilized communication satellites, this paper describes a novel attitude determination method using direction of arrival （DOA） estimation of a ground signal source. It differs from optical measurement, magnetic field measurement, inertial measurement, and global positioning system （GPS） attitude determination. The proposed method is characterized by taking the ground signal source as the attitude reference and acquiring attitude information from DOA estimation. Firstly, an attitude measurement equation with DOA estimation is derived in detail. Then, the error of the measurement equation is analyzed. Finally, an attitude determination algorithm is presented using a dynamic model, the attitude measurement equation, and measurement errors. A developing low Earth orbit （LEO） satellite which tests mobile communication technology with smart antennas can be stabilized in three axes by corporately using a magnetometer, reaction wheels, and three-axis magnetorquer rods. Based on the communication satellite, simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. The method could be a backup of attitude determination to prevent a system failure on the satellite. Its precision depends on the number of snapshots and the input signal-to-noise ratio （SNR） with DOA estimation.     

面向航空节点的IP/LEO卫星网络移动性管理方法(英文)

Taking into chief consideration the features of aviation nodes in satellite networks, such as high moving speed, long communication distance, and high connection frequency, this article proposes an aviation-oriented mobility management method for IP/low earth orbit （LEO） satellite networks. By introducing the concept of ground station real-time coverage area, the proposed method uses ground-station-based IP addressing method and cell paging scheme to decrease the frequency of IP binding update requests as well as the paging cost. In comparison with the paging mobile IP （P-MIP） method and the handover-independent IP mobility management method, as is verified by the mathematical analysis and simulation, the proposed method could decrease the management cost. It also possesses better ability to support the aviation nodes because it is subjected to fewer influences from increased node speeds and newly coming connection rates.     

Autonomous navigation to quasi-periodic orbits near translunar Ubration points

Libration-point missions have been very useful and successful. Due to the unstable natures of most of these orbits, the long-time stationkeeping demands frequent maneuvers and precise orbit determinations. Earth-based tracking will have to undertake much more responsibilities with the increasing number of libration missions. An autonomous navigation system could offer a better way to decrease the need for Earth-based tracking. Nevertheless, when an autonomous navigation system is applied, there are three important factors affecting autonomous navigation accuracy, i.e., the accuracy of initial conditions, the accuracy of measurements, and the accuracy of onboard dynamics for propagation. This paper focuses on analyzing the influence from the third factor and finding an appropriate navigation dynamics, which can satisfy the requirement of estimation accuracy but not cause too much burden for onboard computation. When considering the restricted three-body model and the bicircular restricted four-body model as navigation dynamics, the astrin- gency is not shown during the simulations. Meanwhile, when considering the influences of the Sun＇s direct and indirect perturbations and the eccentricity of the Moon＇s orbit, a new navigation dynamic model with the standard ephemerides is proposed. The simulation shows the feasibility of the proposed model.     

Core-based Shared Tree Multicast Routing Algorithms for LEO Satellite IP Networks

A new core-based shared tree algorithm, viz core-cluster combination-based shared tree （CCST） algorithm and the weighted version （i.e. w-CCST algorithm） are proposed in order to resolve the channel resources waste problem in typical source-based multicast routing algorithms in low earth orbit （LEO） satellite IP networks. The CCST algorithm includes the dynamic approximate center （DAC） core selection method and the core-cluster combination multicast route construction scheme. Without complicated onboard computation, the DAC method is uniquely developed for highly dynamic networks of periodical and regular movement. The core-cluster combination method takes core node as the initial core-cluster, and expands it stepwise to construct an entire multicast tree at the lowest tree cost by a shortest path scheme between the newly-generated core-cluster and surplus group members, which results in great bandwidth utilization. Moreover, the w-CCST algorithm is able to strike a balance between performance of tree cost and that of end-to-end propagation delay by adjusting the weighted factor to meet strict end-to-end delay requirements of some real-time multicast services at the expense of a slight increase in tree cost. Finally, performance comparison is conducted between the proposed algorithms and typical algorithms in LEO satellite IP networks. Simulation results show that the CCST algorithm significantly decreases the average tree cost against to the others, and also the average end-to-end propagation delay ofw-CCST algorithm is lower than that of the CCST algorithm.     

Navigation message designing with high accuracy for NAV

Navigation message designing with high accuracy guarantee is the key to efficient navigation message distribution in the global navigation satellite system（GNSS）. Developing high accuracy-aware navigation message designing algorithms is an important topic. This paper investigates the high-accuracy navigation message designing problem with the message structure unchanged.The contributions made in this paper include a heuristic that employs the concept of the estimated range deviation（ERD） to improve the existing well-known navigation message on L1 frequency（NAV） of global positioning system（GPS） for good accuracy service; a numerical analysis approximation method（NAAM） to evaluate the range error due to truncation（RET） of different navigation messages; and a basic positioning parameters designing algorithm in the limited space allocation. Based on the predicted ultra-rapid data from the ultra-rapid data from the international GPS service for geodynamic（IGU）, ERDs are generated in real time for error correction.Simulations show that the algorithms developed in this paper are general and flexible, and thus are applicable to NAV improvement and other navigation message designs.     

NONLINEAR FILTERING ALGORITHM FOR INS INITIAL ALIGNMENT

The initial alignment error equation of an INS (Inertial Navigation System) with large initial azimuth error has been derived and nonlinear characteristics are included. When azimuth error is fairly small, the nonlinear equation can be reduced to a linear one. Extended Kalman filter, iterated filter and second order filter formulas are derived for the nonlinear state equation with linear measurement equation. Simulations results show that the accuracy of azimuth error estimation using extended Kalman filter is better than that of using standard Kalman filter while the iterated filter and second order filter can give even better estimation accuracy.     

Unlicensed Spectrum Sharing Game Between LEO Satellites and Terrestrial Cognitive Radio Networks

By cognitive radio,the low Earth orbit(LEO) satellites may prefer to operate in the unlicensed spectrum which is open to all the users,and compete for the limited resources with terrestrial cognitive radio networks(CRNs).The competition can be regarded as a game and analyzed with game theory.This particular unlicensed spectrum sharing problem is modeled here,and the special properties of "spatially-distinguished-interference" and the short period of the interactions between satellites and terrestrial CRNs are explored.Then,the problem is formulated as a "partially-blind" finitely repeated prisoner’s dilemma by game theory.Finally,we begin with two promising spectrum sharing schemes,which can be used to enforce the frequency reuse among the remotely located terrestrial CRN players as well as to overcome the observation noise.By analysis and comparison,it is proposed that the novel refreshing-contrite-tit-for-tat(R-CTFT) is the optimal spectrum sharing scheme.Simulation results verify that it can be used to utilize the spectrum most efficiently.     

Integrating BDS and GPS for precise relative orbit determination of LEO formation flying

Low-Earth-Orbit(LEO) formation-flying satellites have been widely applied in many kinds of space geodesy. Precise Relative Orbit Determination(PROD) is an essential prerequisite for the LEO formation-flying satellites to complete their mission in space. The contribution of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System(BDS) to the accuracy and reliability of PROD of LEO formation-flying satellites based on a Global Positioning System(GPS) is studied using a simulation method. Firstly, when BDS is added to GPS, the mean number of visible satellites increases from9.71 to 21.58. Secondly, the results show that the 3-Dimensional(3 D) accuracy of PROD, based on BDS-only, GPS-only and BDS + GPS, is 0.74 mm, 0.66 mm and 0.52 mm, respectively. When BDS co-works with GPS, the accuracy increases by 29.73%. Geostationary-Earth-Orbit(GEO) satellites and Inclined Geosynchronous-Orbit(IGSO) satellites are only distributed over the Asia-Pacific region; however, they could provide a global improvement to PROD. The difference in PROD results between the Asia-Pacific region and the non-Asia-Pacific region is not apparent. Furthermore, the value of the Ambiguity Dilution Of Precision(ADOP), based on BDS + GPS, decreases by 7.50% and 8.26%, respectively, compared with BDS-only and GPS-only. Finally, if the relative position between satellites is only a few kilometres, the effect of ephemeris errors on PROD could be ignored. However, for a several-hundred-kilometre separation of the LEO satellites, the SingleDifference(SD) ephemeris errors of GEO satellites would be on the order of centimetres. The experimental results show that when IGSO satellites and Medium-Earth-Orbit(MEO) satellites co-work with GEO satellites, the accuracy decreases by 17.02%.     

Precise orbit determination for TH02-02 satellites based on BDS3 and GPS observations

The Tianhui-2 02 (TH02-02) satellite formation, as a supplement to the microwave mapping satellite system Tianhui-2 01 (TH02-01), is the first Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) satellite formation-flying system that supports the tracking of BeiDou global navigation Satellite system (BDS3) new B1C and B2a signals. Meanwhile, the twin TH02-02 satellites also support the tracking of Global Positioning System (GPS) L1&L2 and BDS B1I&B3I signals. As the spaceborne receiver employs two independent boards to track the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites, we design an orbit determination strategy by estimating independent receiver clock offsets epoch by epoch for each GNSS to realize the multi-GNSS data fusion from different boards. The performance of the spaceborne receiver is evaluated and the contribution of BDS3 to the kinematic and reduced-dynamic Precise Orbit Determination (POD) of TH02-02 satellites is investigated. The tracking data onboard shows that the average number of available BDS3 and GPS satellites are 8.7 and 9.1, respectively. The carrier-to-noise ratio and carrier phase noise of BDS3 B1C and B2a signals are comparable to those of GPS. However, strong azimuth-related systematic biases are recognized in the pseudorange multipath errors of B1C and B3I. The pseudorange noise of BDS3 signals is better than that of GPS after eliminating the multipath errors from specific signals. Taking the GPS-based reduced-dynamic orbit with single-receiver ambiguity fixing technique as a reference, the results of BDS3-only and BDS3 + GPS combined POD are assessed. The Root Mean Square (RMS) of orbit comparison of BDS3-based kinematic and reduced-dynamic POD with reference orbit are better than 7 cm and 3 cm in three-Dimensional direction (3D). The POD performance based on B1C&B2a data is comparable to that based on B1I&B3I. The precision of BDS3 + GPS combined kinematic orbit can reach up to 3 cm (3D RMS), which has a more than 25% improvement relative to the GPS-only solution. In addition, the consistency between the BDS3 + GPS combined reduced-dynamic orbit and the GPS-based ambiguity-fixed orbit is better than 1.5 cm (3D RMS).     

HOI延迟对LEO卫星简化动力学POD的影响

通常使用无电离层(IF)线性组合(LC)消除低地球轨道(LEO)卫星简化动力学精密定轨(POD)一阶电离层延迟误差,忽略了高阶电离层(HOI)延迟误差。随着LEO卫星POD技术的发展,计算不同轨道高度的HOI延迟并探索其变化已成为进一步提高POD精度的重要手段。首先,使用国际参考电离层-2016(IRI-2016)和国际地磁参考场第13代(IGRF-13)模型,计算电离层穿刺点(IPP)位置和地磁场强度。其次,使用平滑星载GNSS数据计算电离层斜路径总电子含量(STEC)。然后,分别计算GOCE、GRACE-A和SWARM-A/B卫星的二阶和三阶电离层延迟。最后,评估了HOI延迟对LEO卫星重叠轨道分析、卫星激光测距(SLR)检核和精密科学轨道(PSO)比较结果的影响。实验结果表明：HOI延迟对LEO卫星简化动力学POD的影响大约在毫米至厘米的数量级上;HOI延迟对LEO卫星简化动力学POD外符合精度的影响分别达到0.92,0.22,0.21和0.18 mm;随着LEO卫星轨道高度的增加,HOI延迟对LEO卫星简化动力学POD的影响减小。     

北斗实时精密轨道和钟差产品解算策略及精度评定

随着北斗卫星导航系统全球星座部署即将完成，其应用领域不断扩大，实时精密服务性能受到了极大关注。基于动力学精密定轨方法，设计了北斗卫星实时轨道、钟差算法流程和解算策略。利用不同频点信号，分别计算了BDS-2和BDS-3卫星的实时精密轨道和钟差，建立了完整的轨道和钟差精度评定方法，重点对解算的实时产品的精度进行了评定。结果表明：BDS-2和BDS-3实时精密轨道和钟差产品精度均可满足大部分实时用户的需求。对于B1IB3I频点，BDS-3 MEO卫星的实时轨道精度约为26cm，径向精度约为6cm，实时钟差精度约为0.45ns，且相较于BDS-2，性能更加稳定；对于B1CB2a频点，BDS-3 MEO卫星的实时轨道精度优于20cm，精度和稳定性较高。     

Aiming at a 1-cm Orbit for Low Earth Orbiters: Reduced-Dynamic and Kinematic Precise Orbit Determination

The computation of high-accuracy orbits is a prerequisite for the success of Low Earth Orbiter (LEO) missions such as CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE. The mission objectives of these satellites cannot be reached without computing orbits with an accuracy at the few cm level. Such a level of accuracy might be achieved with the techniques of reduced-dynamic and kinematic precise orbit determination (POD) assuming continuous Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking (SST) by the Global Positioning System (GPS). Both techniques have reached a high level of maturity and have been successfully applied to missions in the past, for example to TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P), leading to (sub-)decimeter orbit accuracy. New LEO gravity missions are (to be) equipped with advanced GPS receivers promising to provide very high quality SST observations thereby opening the possibility for computing cm-level accuracy orbits. The computation of orbits at this accuracy level does not only require high-quality GPS receivers, but also advanced and demanding observation preprocessing and correction algorithms. Moreover, sophisticated parameter estimation schemes need to be adapted and extended to allow the computation of such orbits. Finally, reliable methods need to be employed for assessing the orbit quality and providing feedback to the different processing steps in the orbit computation process. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

双星定位系统及其备份星在近地卫星联合定轨建模中的应用

建立了基于双星定位系统距离和观测数据的近地卫星联合定轨模型,设计了相应的数值融合联合定轨算法;为进一步提高近地卫星定轨精度,考虑融合双星及备份星距离和观测数据,建立了基于双星和备份星的近地卫星联合定轨模型及实现算法,并针对不同仿真条件进行了联合定轨仿真实验。仿真计算结果表明,联合定轨方式较传统近地卫星精密定轨方式可以更好地抑制双星星历误差对近地卫星定轨精度的影响,近地卫星和双星的定轨精度均得到了一定程度的提高;同时,融合备份星观测数据的近地卫星联合定轨精度得到进一步改善,达到5.17m。     

北斗空间信号误差统计特征及描述方法研究

通过对比北斗卫星导航系统(BeiDou Navigation Satellite System,BDS)广播星历与事后精密星历,提取了轨道和卫星时钟误差。基于北斗轨道误差及北斗卫星时钟误差统计特征分析,构建区别于全球定位系统(Global Positioning System,GPS)的BDS空间信号用户测距误差(Signal-In-Space User Range Error,SISRE)描述方法,对BDS广播星历中用户测距精度(User Range Accuracy,URA)进行了验证。6个月的北斗数据测试结果表明,北斗GEO、IGSO和MEO卫星的URA分别为3.0m、1.9m和1.6m。     

Inter-satellite link augmented BeiDou-3 orbit determination for precise point positioning

Precise Point Positioning(PPP) requires precise products, including high-accuracy satellite orbit and clock parameters. It is impossible to obtain an orbit solution that is sufficiently accurate for PPP services with a regional tracking network; therefore, satellite orbits are usually estimated by a global tracking network with a large number of ground stations. However, it is expensive to build globally distributed stations. Fortunately, BeiDou-3 satellites carry an InterSatellite Link(ISL) pay...     

地球静止卫星精密测定轨技术的现状及发展

介绍并分析了针对地球静止卫星的各种高精度测定轨跟踪技术.指出测距系统的校正误差是常规测距跟踪网定轨在沿迹方向和法向的主要误差源,为保证一致的卫星三维位置解算精度,应利用高分辨率的角度观测约束信息来有效地降低测距偏差对轨道确定的影响,或者利用天地基联合定轨的低轨卫星运动几何在轨道改进的同时精化测距偏差.