Design and experiment of onboard laser time transfer in Chinese Beidou navigation satellites

High-precision time synchronization between satellites and ground stations plays the vital role in satellite navigation system. Laser time transfer (LTT) technology is widely recognized as the highest accuracy way to achieve time synchronization derived from satellite laser ranging (SLR) technology. Onboard LTT payload has been designed and developed by Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, and successfully applied to Chinese Beidou navigation satellites. By using the SLR system, with strictly controlling laser firing time and developing LTT data processing system on ground, the high precise onboard laser time transfer experiment has been first performed for satellite navigation system in the world. The clock difference and relative frequency difference between the ground hydrogen maser and space rubidium clocks have been obtained, with the precision of approximately 300 ps and relative frequency stability of 10E−14. This article describes the development of onboard LTT payload, introduces the principle, system composition, applications and LTT measuring results for Chinese satellite navigation system.     

In-orbit assessment of laser retro-reflector efficiency onboard high orbiting satellites

The navigation and geodetic satellites that orbit the Earth at altitudes of approximately 20,000 km are tracked routinely by many of the Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) stations of the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS). In order to meet increasing demands on SLR stations for daytime and nighttime observations, any new mission needs to ensure a strong return signal so that the target is easily acquirable. The ILRS has therefore set a minimum effective cross-section of 100 million square metres for the on-board laser retro-reflector arrays (LRAs) and further recommends the use of ‘uncoated’ cubes in the arrays. Given the large number of GNSS satellites that are currently supported by SLR, it is informative to make an assessment of the relative efficiencies of the various LRAs employed. This paper uses the laser ranging observations themselves to deduce and then compare the efficiencies of the LRAs on the COMPASS-M1 navigation satellite, two satellites from the GPS and three from the GLONASS constellations, the two GIOVE test satellites from the upcoming Galileo constellation, the two Etalon geodetic spheres and the geosynchronous communications test satellite, ETS-8. All the LRAs on this set of satellites employ back-coated retro-reflector cubes, except those on the COMPASS-M1 and ETS-8 vehicles which are uncoated. A measure of return signal strength, and thus of LRA-efficiency, is calculated using the laser-range full-rate data archive from 2007 to 2010, scaled to remove the effects of variations in satellite range, atmospheric attenuation and retro-reflector target total surface area. Observations from five SLR stations are used in this study; they are Herstmonceux (UK), Yarragadee (Australia), Monument Peak and McDonald (USA) and Wettzell (Germany). Careful consideration is given to the treatment of the observations from each station in order to take account of local working practices and system upgrades. The results show that the uncoated retro-reflector cubes offer significant improvements in efficiency.     

Analysis on navigation accuracy of high orbit spacecraft based on BDS GEO and IGSO satellites

To make up for the insufficiency of earth-based TT&C systems, the use of GNSS technology for high-orbit spacecraft navigation and orbit determination has become a new technology. It is of great value to applying Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) and Inclined GeoStationary Orbit (IGSO) navigation satellites for supporting the navigation of high-orbit spacecraft since there are three different types of navigation satellites in BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS): Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), GEO and IGSO. This paper conducts simulation experiments based on Two-Line Orbital Element (TLE) data to analyze and demonstrate the role of these satellites in the navigation of high-orbit spacecraft. Firstly, the spacecraft in GEO was used as the target satellite to conduct navigation experiments. Experiments show that for the spacecraft on the GEO orbit, after adding GEO and IGSO respectively on the basis of receiving MEO navigation satellite signals, the accuracies were improved by 7.22 % and 6.06 % respectively. When adding both GEO and IGSO navigation satellites at the same time, the accuracy can reach 16 m. In the second place, navigation and positioning experiments were carried out on three high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellites with different semimajor axis (32037.2 km, 42385.9 km, 67509.6 km). The experiments show that the number of visible satellites has been improved significantly after adding GEO and IGSO navigation satellites at the same time. The visible satellites in these three orbits were improved by 32.84 %, 41.12 % and 37.68 %, respectively compared with only observing MEO satellites.The RMS values of the navigation positioning errors of these three orbits are 25.59 m, 87.58 m and 712.48 m, respectively.     

基于视线测量和轨道预报高轨非合作目标相对导航方法

对于非合作目标,由于中远距离星上相对测量手段有限,大多情况仅能获得视线角信息.仅视线测量相对导航方法在GEO轨道条件下滤波精度低、可观测性差.提出一种基于星间视线方位测量和轨道预报信息结合的非合作目标相对导航方法.建立基于星间相对运动模型的状态方程和基于星间视线测量和轨道预报信息的观测方程,分别选取了扩展卡尔曼滤波和无迹卡尔曼滤波两种方法,仿真分析了轨道预报信息精度和滤波方法对导航精度的影响.     

Orbit determination of BeiDou navigation satellite system maneuvered satellites based on instantaneous velocity pulses parameters

The BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) comprises geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites as well as inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) and medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites. Owing to their special orbital characteristics, GEO satellites require frequent orbital maneuvers to ensure that they operate in a specific orbital window. The availability of the entire system is affected during the maneuver period because service cannot be provided before the ephemeris is restored. In this study, based on the conventional dynamic orbit determination method for navigation satellites, multiple sets of instantaneous velocity pulses parameters which belong to one of pseudo-stochastic parameters were used to simulate the orbital maneuver process in the orbital maneuver arc and establish the observed and predicted orbits of the maneuvered and non-maneuvered satellites of BeiDou regional navigation satellite system (BDS-2) and BeiDou global navigation satellite system (BDS-3). Finally, the single point positioning (SPP) technology was used to verify the accuracy of the observed and predicted orbits. The orbit determination accuracy of maneuvered satellites can be greatly improved by using the orbit determination method proposed in this paper. The overlapping orbit determination accuracy of maneuvered GEO satellites of BDS-2 and BDS-3 can improve 2–3 orders of magnitude. Among them, the radial orbit determination accuracy of each maneuvered satellite is basically better than 1 m. simultaneously, the combined orbit determination of the maneuvered and non-maneuvered satellites does not have a great impact on the orbit determination accuracy of the non-maneuvered satellites. Compared with the multi GNSS products (indicated by GBM) from the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), the impact of adding the maneuvered satellites on the orbit determination accuracy of BDS-2 satellites is less than 9 %. Furthermore, the orbital recovery time and the service availability period are significantly improved. When the node of the predicted orbit is traversed approximately 3 h after the maneuver, the accuracy of the predicted orbit of the maneuvered satellite can reach that of the observed orbit. The SPP results for the BDS reached a normal level when the node of the predicted orbit was 2 h after the maneuver.     

混合星座导航卫星广播星历相关问题研究

GPS卫星广播星历参数具有参数少、物理意义明确以及精度高等特点,可以考虑将它应用于包含MEO、IGSO和GEO卫星的混合星座卫星导航系统。分析了采用GPs卫星广播星历参数时MEO、IGSO和GEO卫星的广播星历拟合精度,并且比较分析了在一个卫星的轨道周期内,广播星历参数拟合结果的变化规律。仿真结果表明,MEO、IGSO和GEO卫星的广播星历拟合误差最大在分米量级;MEO和IGSO卫星在一个轨道周期内星历参数拟合结果的变化规律相近,但是与GEO卫星的差异较大。     

基于位置观测的北斗广播星历速度精度分析

利用广播星历计算导航卫星的速度向量是GNSS高精度实时测速的必要条件.本文分析了仅以卫星位置向量为观测量的北斗广播星历的速度计算精度.从广播星历拟合过程出发,推导了北斗18参数模型的速度向量计算公式.基于北斗13颗在轨卫星一年的实际轨道数据,分析了全年广播星历计算卫星速度向量的精度.结果表明,利用18参数模型计算的速度误差最大在10-4m·-1量级;在相同拟合时段条件下,地球静止轨道（GEO）和倾斜地球同步轨道（IGSO）卫星的速度精度相当,高于中圆地球轨道（MEO）卫星.通过对位置残差序列分析,得出位置残差误差较小且变化趋势平稳是广播星历计算速度精度较高的原因.分析和计算结果验证了仅用位置观测量拟合北斗广播星历算法的有效性.      

关于北斗卫星导航系统的被动式定位算法比较研究

我国北斗卫星导航系统空间卫星共有2或3颗,无法单独满足被动导航定位的要求．针对这种卫星稀少的情况提出了3种被动式定位算法: 2星定位算法、 3星3参数定位算法和3星4参数定位算法, 这些算法分别采用气压测高方法增加观测数据和采用数学模型描述接收机钟差的方法减少定位方程求解的未知数;探讨了北斗卫星导航系统备份星的可用性和对导航定位精度的贡献;还提出了准差分修正技术,提高了定位精度．实验证明, 3种算法都取得了100m以内的定位结果,可以满足一般用户定位需求．     

基于单站CCD漂移扫描光电设备的同步轨道目标测定轨

地基光电观测在同步轨道目标监测领域具有重要作用.为评估单站光电设备对同步轨道目标的实际测定轨能力,利用上海天文台佘山站1.56m望远镜,采用CCD漂移扫描光电技术,对3颗北斗同步卫星开展试验观测,基于卫星精密星历评估目标的测定轨外符精度.结果表明:同步轨道目标的天文定位在方位和俯仰方向上的外符精度均好于0.3";在单圈次观测情况下,尽管轨道预报精度较低,约为数千米量级,但是观测弧段内定轨精度可优于百米;在多圈次观测情况下,轨道改进效果显著,定轨精度优于50m,外推至4d的轨道预报精度为百米量级.此外,定量评估了每晚不同观测时间跨度下同步轨道目标的测定轨精度,为单站光电设备实际应用提供了参考.      

北斗双星定位系统改进及其算法的研究

北斗双星定位系统是我国自行建立起来的一种区域性定位系统(RDSS)．本文论述了双星导航定位系统存在的缺点,提出了利用我国现有的导航卫星资源即两颗工作卫星和第3颗卫星(备用卫星)与气压高度表组成一种区域性无源导航定位系统,并给出了定位算法表达式．仿真结果表明,该方法是可行的,可实现中等精度的导航定位,为发展我国的卫星导航定位系统提供了一种新思路．     

风云三号C星GNOS北斗掩星电离层探测初步结果

利用风云三号卫星C星GNOS掩星探测仪电离层数据,分析了2013年10月FY-3C GNOS探测的北斗掩星电离层廓线分布,将2013年10月1日至2015年10月10日期间FY-3C GNOS观测的F₂层峰值电子密度（N_mF₂）与地面电离层测高仪观测结果进行对比,验证了FY-3C GNOS北斗电离层掩星的探测精度.结果表明,FY3-C GNOS北斗电离层掩星与电离层测高仪探测的N_mF₂数据相关系数为0.96,平均偏差为10.21%,标准差为19.61%.在不同情况下其数据精度有如下特征:白天精度高于夜晚;夏季精度高于分季,分季精度高于冬季;中纬地区精度高于低纬地区,低纬地区精度高于高纬地区; BDS倾斜同步轨道（IGSO）卫星精度高于同步轨道（GEO）卫星和中轨道（MEO）卫星.FY-3C GNOS北斗电离层掩星与国际上其他掩星电离层数据精度的一致性对GNSS掩星探测资料的综合利用具有重大意义.      

北斗GEO卫星CEI相时延解算方法研究

连线端站干涉测量(connected element interferometry，CEI)是高精度测角技术，在中高轨卫星、月球及深空航天器定轨定位中有良好的应用前景。基于CEI技术特点，提出了一种新的测量方法，即在相干测距模式下利用测距音和载波信号作为信号源进行连线端站干涉测量。构建了CEI试验系统对北斗GEO卫星进行观测，利用相干测距模式下的下行信号解算群时延、相时延。利用北斗GEO卫星精密星历计算的时延理论值，对北斗GEO卫星CEI群时延和相时延结果进行评估。结果表明，相干测距模式下CEI群时延和相时延残差均值分别为0.47ns、0.08ns，标准差(3σ)分别4.2ns、0.13ns。该项研究验证了相干测距模式下CEI相时延解算的可行性，可为共位地球同步卫星精密相对定位、月球探测器CEI测量提供技术参考。     

Guidepost-based autonomous orbit determination method for GEO satellite

Guidepost-based navigation system is a novel autonomous orbit determination method for the GEO satellite. The system is achieved by using the camera imaging function to obtain the guidepost images and the GNSS signal receiver to obtain the pseudoranges between the GEO and the navigation satellites. Due to the high altitude of GEO satellite and the time-varying sunlight condition in the space environment, it may be difficult to obtain object image points and the distance measurements of GNSS because of the weak visibility of the guideposts. To deal with the problem, a novel integrated orbit determination system is presented. The Earth landmarks, the in-orbit spacecraft and GNSS navigation satellites whose line-of-sights and the distance can be easily obtained are used at the same time as information for the GEO satellite navigation based on the observability conditions analysis. The observability of the GEO satellite navigation system is analyzed through the physical observability, the mathematical observability and the engineering observability through the observing geometry, the rank of observability matrix and the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) respectively. Besides, the maximum correntropy unscented Kalman filter (MCUKF) algorithm is applied to improve the estimation stability of the system in the presence of non-Gaussian noises. The simulation indicates the feasibility of the proposed scheme.     

基于GPS/北斗组合系统的高轨卫星定位技术研究

针对目前高轨GPS信号可用性差及定位精度低的特点, 对GPS/北斗组合系统的 高轨卫星定位技术进行研究, 对比分析了单GPS系统与GPS/北斗组合系统的卫 星可见性和几何精度因子. 结果表明, GPS/北斗组合系统比单GPS系统的卫星可 见性好, 且定位精度高. 同时通过提出在星载接收机上采用高精度原子钟, 可实现三星定位, 降低对接收机的技术要求.      

Modeling and initial assessment of the inter-frequency clock bias for COMPASS GEO satellites

The COMPASS system is a project established by China to develop an independent global satellite navigation system, which has five GEO (Geostationary Orbit) satellites and thirty Non-GEO satellites. An apparent inter-frequency clock bias (IFCB) for COMPASS GEO satellites is investigated using the real data. The bias also is modeled by the different models. Based on the 15 months (DOY 121, 2011–214, 2012) single-day-estimated results, the periodic variation of IFCBs of the COMPASS GEO satellite is studied using a harmonic analysis. The notable periods of 12 h and 8 h are noted. The harmonics-based models with different periods and different orders and quadratic function based model are used to describe the IFCB. The performances show that the 4-order harmonics-based model with the periods of 24, 12, 8 and 6 h is most optimal than others for describing the IFCB of COMPASS GEO satellite. Its amplitudes and phases estimated from a least square fit are used to study the features of the IFCB. The results show that the current amplitudes and phases do not present special features. Although the irregular amplitudes and phases of the model are disadvantageous for the long-term prediction of IFCB, it is obvious that the modeling IFCB can simple its service and a few of coefficients can replace the IFCB series. The performance of the model in short-term prediction IFCB is tested using the ten-day data (DOY 215-224, 2012).     

Time synchronization of new-generation BDS satellites using inter-satellite link measurements

Autonomous satellite navigation is based on the ability of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), such as Beidou, to estimate orbits and clock parameters onboard satellites using Inter-Satellite Link (ISL) measurements instead of tracking data from a ground monitoring network. This paper focuses on the time synchronization of new-generation Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) satellites equipped with an ISL payload. Two modes of Ka-band ISL measurements, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) mode and the continuous link mode, were used onboard these BDS satellites. Using a mathematical formulation for each measurement mode along with a derivation of the satellite clock offsets, geometric ranges from the dual one-way measurements were introduced. Then, pseudoranges and clock offsets were evaluated for the new-generation BDS satellites. The evaluation shows that the ranging accuracies of TDMA ISL and the continuous link are approximately 4?cm and 1?cm (root mean square, RMS), respectively. Both lead to ISL clock offset residuals of less than 0.3?ns (RMS). For further validation, time synchronization between these satellites to a ground control station keeping the systematic time in BDT was conducted using L-band Two-way Satellite Time Frequency Transfer (TWSTFT). System errors in the ISL measurements were calibrated by comparing the derived clock offsets with the TWSTFT. The standard deviations of the estimated ISL system errors are less than 0.3?ns, and the calibrated ISL clock parameters are consistent with that of the L-band TWSTFT. For the regional BDS network, the addition of ISL measurements for medium orbit (MEO) BDS satellites increased the clock tracking coverage by more than 40% for each orbital revolution. As a result, the clock predicting error for the satellite M1S was improved from 3.59 to 0.86?ns (RMS), and the predicting error of the satellite M2S was improved from 1.94 to 0.57?ns (RMS), which is a significant improvement by a factor of 3–4.     

组合导航系统的数据传递和信息发播研究

为了提升北斗与长河各自的功能,研究了北斗/长河组合导航系统的系统设计及实现方法。介绍了北斗/长河组合导航系统的数据传递机制,及功能提升后的长河、北斗信息发播体制。实验证明,通过北斗有效的信息传递和长河增强的信息发播,有助于实现系统的三维导航定位,提高定位精度。     

一种稀疏布站条件下的区域电离层改正方法研究

研究了WAAS卫星导航系统的格网电离层改正方法,分析了中国区域电离层分布特性,根据中国区域内稀疏布站的条件,MEO卫星和GEO卫星运动特点,以及C波段GEO卫星电离层延迟特性,提出了利用距离幂指数权重内插进行电离层延迟改正的方法。使用IGS公布的电离层数据,分别利用格网电离层权重方法和距离幂指数权重内插法进行Matlab仿真计算。然后,将结果与IGS事后精密产品进行比较,证明在中国区域内稀疏布站条件下,距离幂指数权重内插法对于电离层延迟具有较理想的改正效果。     

Establishment criteria,routing algorithms and probability of use of inter-satellite links in mixed navigation constellations

In this paper, the establishment criteria, routing algorithm and the probability of use of ISLs (inter-satellite links) in the mixed navigation constellation of GEO satellites, IGSO satellites and MEO satellites are analyzed. Firstly, the general criteria of ISL establishment in mixed navigation constellation are proposed from the perspective of geometry, and the influences of these criteria on routing algorithms and the probability of use of ISLs are discussed. Then, from the perspective of autonomous orbit determination, the routing algorithm in mixed navigation constellation is designed. Thirdly, a stochastic study of ISLs load in mixed navigation constellation is proposed, and the formulae of probability of use of ISLs are given. Finally, in the simulation, the establishment criteria, routing algorithm and the probability of use of ISLs in a specific mixed navigation constellation of 3GEO + 3IGSO + 24MEO are discussed in detail. The findings of this paper provide a basis for the ISL establishment and routing algorithm, and offer the quantitative indicators for the use of ISL in the mixed navigation constellation.