Assessment of the close approach frequency and collision probability for satellites in different configurations of large constellations

The Earth orbital environment is drastically changing due to an intensification of the space activities. In particular, several projects of large constellations, proposed for the next years for communications purpose like global internet access, Internet of Things, or for Earth observations, will lead to the deployment of several thousands of new satellites at an unprecedented rate. It is a crucial challenge for space traffic management, which will deal with a great number of satellite conjunctions, potentially causing a collision with damaging consequences for the constellation itself and the space environment sustainability.In this paper, we investigate the close approach frequency and the cumulative collision probability for each referenced constellation. For this purpose, we compute the orbital evolution of satellites in different constellations during the lifecycle, from the deployment to the decommissioning, and we apply the CUBE algorithm and the Foster method to assess the collision probability with the background space debris population assuming a constant uncertainty in position. We show the variation of risk defined by the close approach frequency and the cumulative collision probability as a function of the proposed configuration. In particular, satellites of the Iridium and Kuiper constellation, but also satellite of the Telesat constellation on polar orbits are the most exposed at a collision. Moreover, the decommissioning phase contribute for a major part to the final cumulative collision probability.     

导航卫星中断频次的分析方法

面向导航卫星中断频次的定量分析需求,该文分析导航卫星中断产生的主要原因,给出中断频次分析的流程,并针对分析过程中的三个关键问题,研究提出具体实施方法,包括通过相关性分析快速定位底层中断事件,通过中断树建立指标分析模型,并融合在轨数据、地面试验数据快速预估得到底层功能异常率等。最后通过示例进一步说明中断频次分析过程。该文方法已应用于北斗导航卫星工程。     

Study of highly perturbed spacecraft formation dynamics via approximation

This paper explores methods for approximating and analyzing the dynamics of highly perturbed spacecraft formations with an emphasis on computationally efficient approaches. This facilitates on-board computation or rapid preliminary mission design analysis. Perturbed formation dynamics are often approximated as linear time-varying (LTV) systems, for which Floquet theory can be used to analyze the degree of system instability. Furthermore, the angular momentum of the relative orbital state can be computed with the approximate dynamics to provide additional insight. A general methodology is developed first and then applied to the problem of unstable formation dynamics in asteroid orbits. Here the dominant perturbative effects due to low-order gravitational harmonics and solar radiation pressure are modeled. Numerical simulations validate the approach and illustrate the approximation accuracy achieved.     

Orbit-attitude-vibration coupled dynamics of tethered solar power satellite

A new orbit-attitude-vibration coupled dynamic model of the tethered solar power satellite (Tethered SPS) is established based on absolute nodal coordinate formulation. The Hamilton’s equation of the system is derived by introducing generalized momentum through Legendre transformation. The correctness of the proposed model is verified by an example. The dynamic characteristics of the Tethered SPS are studied using the symplectic Runge-Kutta method. Simulation results show that the orbital radius and the total energy of the system are well preserved. The attitude of the system is unstable when the mass of the bus system is small. However, the attitude stability is dependent on some other parameters of the system, which requires further studies. It is also found that the average tether force/deformation can be roughly estimated by simplifying the solar panel as a particle. The proposed model can be used to study the orbit-attitude-vibration coupled dynamics and control problems.     

星载激光通信终端在轨机动对温度影响

对激光通信终端在轨瞬态温度变化开展了仿真，以期研究在轨机动的影响、热分析和热试验时机动模式的简化模拟。通过合理地分析与简化，建立终端的轨道热分析模型，准确模拟在轨机动，根据典型机动模式、外热流和涂层退化等因素设计了计算工况，得出了终端在轨运行过程中的温度场随时间和姿态变化规律。结果表明：不同机动模式下的温度变化存在差异，最大可达23.0℃，采用固定姿态或一维转动的简化热分析或热试验不能准确模拟实际飞行温度，甚至不能部分替代二维转动热分析或热试验；光学天线和反射镜的温度控制是制约终端工作的瓶颈，为终端设计合适的避光机动策略，可大幅度提高温度稳定度和均匀度。研究结果可以为光机电设备在轨机动策略的设计和改进提供参考。     

Fully distributed time-varying formation tracking control for multiple quadrotor vehicles via finite-time convergent extended state observer

This paper investigates a time-varying anti-disturbance formation problem for a group of quadrotor aircrafts with time-varying uncertainties and a directed interaction topology. A novel Finite-Time Convergent Extended State Observer (FTCESO) based fully-distributed formation control scheme is proposed to enhance the disturbance rejection and the formation tracking performances for networked quadrotors. By adopting the hierarchical control strategy, the multi-quadrotor system is separated into two subsystems: the outer-loop cooperative subsystem and the inner-loop attitude subsystem. In the outer-loop subsystem, with the estimation of disturbing forces and uncertain dynamics from FTCESOs, an adaptive consensus theory based cooperative controller is exploited to ensure the multiple quadrotors form and maintain a time-varying pattern relying only on the positions of the neighboring aircrafts. In the inner-loop subsystem, the desired attitude generated by the cooperative control law is stably tracked under a FTCESO-based attitude controller in a finite time. Based on a detailed algorithm to specify the cooperative control protocol, the feasibility condition to achieve the time-varying anti-disturbance formation tracking is derived and the rigorous analysis of the whole closed-loop multi-quadrotor system is given. Some numerical examples are conducted to intuitively demonstrate the effectiveness and the improvements of the proposed control framework.     

利用微波探测仪(ATMS)对在轨微波辐射计观测精度的模拟分析

微波辐射计的观测精度及其对数值模式同化应用的影响评估是微波辐射计观测指标设计的重要参考。基于微波探测仪(ATMS)资料,利用三维变分同化系统模拟分析在轨微波辐射计的观测精度指标。针对ATMS观测误差特征,在其观测基础上增加均值为零、标准偏差分别为0.5,1.0,1.5,2.0K的正态随机扰动,进而获得不同精度的观测模拟值序列,然后利用Harris和Kelley的辐射资料偏差订正经验方法订正不同精度的观测资料。偏差订正后,利用三维变分同化模式(WRFDA)直接同化ATMS资料。通过2016年6月6h预报场的同化试验,评估了不同观测精度的模拟资料对数值模式的同化影响。     

卫星能源约束检查模型改进及仿真

卫星能源约束检查模型对卫星任务规划有重要参考作用,可防止因能源不足而导致卫星故障或任务不能顺利完成。现有的能源约束检查模型存在部分问题:人为设定计算初始值,导致计算不准确;能源约束检查不通过时未给出符合能源约束的任务调整建议,导致任务不能快速调整;未对计算误差进行校正,导致误差积累。对此,提出了一种改进的能源约束检查模型,在原有模型中加入能源数据库对卫星运行的能源数据进行记录,从而准确获取初始值,并在模型中加入任务调整和遥测校正功能。该模型可实现能源约束计算自动管理及任务自动调整功能,缩短任务规划周期,提升紧急任务的执行效率。对改进的模型进行仿真,结果表明:模型预测结果与预期值相符,任务调整和能源校正功能实现良好,能实际应用到运控系统中进行规划任务能源约束检查和能源管理。     

A robust object-based shadow detection method for cloud-free high resolution satellite images over urban areas and water bodies

Unwanted contrast in high resolution satellite images such as shadow areas directly affects the result of further processing in urban remote sensing images. Detecting and finding the precise position of shadows is critical in different remote sensing processing chains such as change detection, image classification and digital elevation model generation from stereo images. The spectral similarity between shadow areas, water bodies, and some dark asphalt roads makes the development of robust shadow detection algorithms challenging. In addition, most of the existing methods work on pixel-level and neglect the contextual information contained in neighboring pixels. In this paper, a new object-based shadow detection framework is introduced. In the proposed method a pixel-level shadow mask is built by extending established thresholding methods with a new C₄ index which enables to solve the ambiguity of shadow and water bodies. Then the pixel-based results are further processed in an object-based majority analysis to detect the final shadow objects. Four different high resolution satellite images are used to validate this new approach. The result shows the superiority of the proposed method over some state-of-the-art shadow detection method with an average of 96% in F-measure.     

一种高动态低信噪比卫星导航信号捕获方法

为提升高动态低信噪比环境下卫星导航信号的捕获性能,提出了一种基于分数阶傅里叶变换(FrFT)及部分匹配滤波(PMF)的捕获方法。在该方法中,接收机首先利用PMF对接收信号做分段相干积分,随后借助快速傅里叶变换(FFT)对分段积分结果做离散快速FrFT,最后通过检测FrFT输出的峰值完成信号的捕获。由于具有多普勒频率变化率的卫星导航信号在FrFT后呈现能量聚焦特性,所提方法能够显著提高信号的长时间相干积分增益。同时对所提算法的捕获概率、平均捕获时间以及算法复杂度等性能指标进行了理论分析及计算机仿真验证。仿真表明,与传统的PMF-FFT方法相比,所提方法能够通过延长相干积分时间的方式有效提升高动态低信噪比卫星导航信号的捕获概率、降低捕获时间。