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。     

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.     

轨控大干扰下的系统角动量管理

摘要： 针对利用角动量交换装置系统实现轨控期间姿态维持的情况，研究当轨控推力器存在大力矩扰动时系统角动量管理方法.结合对地运行航天器轨道运动特性，分析轨控干扰力矩的积累角动量变化规律；考虑角动量管理装置系统的角动量存贮容量，基于角动量积累规律提出了一种结合偏置角动量建立与对称分布轨控位置选择的系统角动量管理方法，实现了对称轨控位置积累角动量互相抵消的自平衡效果，极大程度地提高轨控效率且避免系统角动量饱和现象.所提出的方法适用于喷气欠驱动控制系统，方法的有效性通过了数学仿真验证及在轨型号应用.     

An improved numerical method for constructing Halo/Lissajous orbits in a full solar system model

An improved numerical method that can construct Halo/Lissajous orbits in the vicinity of collinear libration points in a full solar system model is investigated. A full solar system gravitational model in the geocentric rotating coordinate system with a clear presentation of the angular velocity relative to the inertial coordinate system is proposed. An alternative way to determine patch points in the multiple shooting method is provided based on a dynamical analysis with Poincare′sections. By employing the new patch points and sequential quadratic programming, Halo orbits for L_1, L_2, and L_3 points as well as Lissajous orbits for L_1 and L_2 points in the EarthMoon system are generated with the proposed full solar system gravitational model to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

椭圆轨道卫星对地全球覆盖电推进控制

针对椭圆轨道卫星近/远地点的星下点对全球或特定纬度区域的访问问题，提出一种连续小推力下的对地覆盖控制策略。首先，推导了自然摄动对卫星拱线变化的影响，并探讨了进行小推力覆盖控制的必要性。然后，针对燃料消耗的优化问题，将控制方程展开成含傅里叶级数的形式，用以获得便于星上计算的解析形式的次优解，同时探讨了截取阶数与优化程度的关系。在进行拱线控制的同时，通过合理设置约束，对椭圆轨道的近地点高度进行保护，确保卫星安全运行。仿真结果表明，提出的方法能够以适当的燃料消耗代价实现椭圆轨道的近/远地点的全球覆盖控制或特定纬度区域的反复推扫，且控制力在可接受的范围内。     

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。