Attitude controller design for orbital target tracking of geostationary satellite under avoidance constraint

A coordinated attitude control problem is addressed for which a geostationary satellite should maintain communication with a ground station while simultaneously tracking space objects. The coordinated attitude control discussed in this study is related to the attitude maneuvers of a tracking satellite and to the orbital motion of targets placed in orbits of lower altitudes. Modified Rodrigues parameters are employed to avoid singularities even in the presence of large attitude maneuvers. The initial attitude error is calculated based upon an arbitrary initial configuration for the target tracking, so that a sequential tracking from one to another target can be achieved easily. Additionally, avoidance maneuvers aimed at protecting sensitive onboard sensors from the Sun and the Moon are designed using the so-called navigation function. When the avoidance areas are on the transient path due to the coordinated attitude maneuver command, the maneuver is performed with no violation against the given constraint areas by adopting the navigation function.     

An attitude control approach for compensation of satellite drift in elliptic synchronous orbits

This paper explores the possibility of developing a new attitude control method for satellites in elliptic, 24-hour orbits, in order to compensate for the effect of longitudinal periodic drift relative to the ground station. A simple solar attitude control technique has been proposed for achieving the fixed apparent satellite orientation with respect to the ground segment of the space mission. The proposed control approach appears to be quite attractive for various satellite applications as it can substantially overcome the problems created by the continual periodic angular drift as well as undesirable pitching excitation in the elliptic orbits. Generalizing the analytically developed open-loop control policy results in a significant improvement of the controller performance.     

太阳帆绕地球周期轨道研究

  地球同步和太阳同步卫星在各个领域有着广泛的应用。静止轨道是一种特殊的地球同步轨道,轨道资源有限。利用化学推进或电推进可以实现轨道高度不同的同步轨道,如悬挂轨道,但需要消耗较多的燃料,工程上无法承受。本文考虑利用太阳帆实现地球同步和太阳同步轨道。太阳光压力在轨道平面内沿拱线方向,选择光压力与平面的夹角使得轨道平面的旋转速率与太阳光同步。研究表明,设计合适的半长轴和偏心率可以使得轨道旋转速率与地球自转速率一致。假设太阳光与赤道平面平行,可以得到准静止轨道,太阳帆将在传统静止轨道的附近运动,星下点的经度将在一个固定值附近振动。实际上太阳光是与黄道面平行,黄道面与赤道面之间存在夹角。考虑黄赤交角的情况下,太阳帆将在一定纬度和经度范围内运动。适合于对某个区域进行长期观测任务。     

Prospects for commercial satellite services at Q- and V-bands

Some 16 proposed new satellite systems operating at 36 to 46 GHz (Q-band) and 46 to 56 GHz (V-band) have been proposed to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission by U.S. companies. Of these. 14 are intended to provide global, or nearly global, service. One is intended for U.S. domestic service, and one is a package to provide additional store-and-forward capability on an earlier proposed “Little LEO” system. This paper provides a brief summary of the 14 global systems, which for the most part are designed to exploit the wide band of frequencies available for services such as multimedia distribution and Internet access.

Systems are proposed that would use geostationary orbit, medium earth orbit, low earth orbit, and Molniya orbit satellites, and in some cases combinations of two of these orbits. Most of the new systems propose to employ new technologies such as multiple narrow spot-beam antennas, onboard demodulation and routing of traffic between beams, intersatellite links, and in some cases scanning beams to continuously illuminate the service area as the satellite flies by.

Some of the difficulties involved in fielding systems at these high frequencies arise from the propagation impairments that can be expected and the high cost of solid-state power devices for user terminals, which will drive up costs. It is concluded that, while the large amount of bandwidth (3 GHz) proposed by the FCC for these systems is attractive, few if any are likely to be built while spectrum remains available at Ka-band.     

The development of a Russian communication satellite of small class, operating in the geostationary and high-elliptical orbits

In 1994–1995 Lavochkin Association (Russia) together with the other enterprises in accordance with technical requirements of the Russian Space agency, developed a new Russian communication satellite of a small class that will operate in both the geostationary (GSO) and high-elliptical (HEO) orbits. This satellite may be injected into operational orbits using a SOYUZ-2 launch vehicle (LV) and a FREGAT upper stage (US) from Plesetsk and Baykonur space launch sites (SLS).The main reason for creating such a satellite was to decrease the cost of the support and development of the Russian communication geostationary satellites group.Russian satellites Horizont, Express, Ekran and Gals, which operate in GSO, are the basis of the space segment for communications, radio and TV broadcasting. All of these satellites are injected into GSO by the PROTON LV. PROTON is a launch vehicle of a heavy class. The use of a middle class LV instead of a heavy class will allow to reduce considerably the launch cost. The change of a heavy class LV to a LV of middle class determined one economic reason for this project. Besides, the opportunity to launch S/C into GSO from Russian Plesetsk SLS increases the independence of Russia in the domain of space communications, despite the presence of the contract with Kazachstan about the rent of Baykonur SLS. Finally, use of small satellites with a rather small number of transponders is more effective than the use of big satellites. It will allow also to increase a satellite group (by the launch of additional satellites) precisely in accordance to the development of the ground segment.     

Economic methods of improving efficient use of the orbit/spectrum resource by satellite systems

Satellite systems continue to play an important role in the booming market for communication and broadcasting services, driving up demand for use of the orbit/spectrum resource. Studies are required to address the problem of orbit capacity and find ways of making more efficient use of it, to avoid a situation in which there is not enough orbit/spectrum resource to cater for the development of future satellite networks. It is argued that, as far as satellite networks are concerned, the current international regulatory regime governing the use of the spectrum has significant shortcomings, which have a cost, in terms of resources and time, and make investment in satellite projects less attractive. An approach is proposed for improving efficiency of the use of the orbit/spectrum through the introduction of economic methods, to supplement the existing technical and regulatory regime. A spectrum pricing method is proposed for satellite communication systems.     

The development of a Russian communication satellite of small class, operating in the geostationary and high-elliptical orbits

In 1994-1995 Lavochkin Association (Russia) together with the other enterprises in accordance with technical requirements of the Russian Space agency, developed a new Russian communication satellite of a small class that will operate in both the geostationary (GSO) and high-elliptical (HEO) orbits. This satellite may be injected into operational orbits using a SOYUZ-2 launch vehicle (LV) and a FREGAT upper stage (US) from Plesetsk and Baykonur space launch sites (SLS).The main reason for creating such a satellite was to decrease the cost of the support and development of the Russian communication geostationary satellites group.Russian satellites Horizont, Express, Ekran and Gals, which operate in GSO, are the basis of the space segment for communications, radio and TV broadcasting. All of these satellites are injected into GSO by the PROTON LV. PROTON is a launch vehicle of a heavy class. The use of a middle class LV instead of a heavy class will allow to reduce considerably the launch cost. The change of a heavy class LV to a LV of middle class determined one economic reason for this project. Besides, the opportunity to launch S/C into GSO from Russian Plesetsk SLS increases the independence of Russia in the domain of space communications, despite the presence of the contract with Kazachstan about the rent of Baykonur SLS. Finally, use of small satellites with a rather small number of transponders is more effective than the use of big satellites. It will allow also to increase a satellite group (by the launch of additional satellites) precisely in accordance to the development of the ground segment.     

Orbit and attitude control of a geostationary inertially oriented large flexible plate-like spacecraft

The paper presents design of a near optimal orbit and attitude control system for a very large flexible rectangular flat plate-like spacecraft in geostationary orbit, with its normal kept in the orbital plane in an inertial orientation. First, assuming the plate to be rigid, an optimal control system is designed. Two control systems are needed: one to balance the gravity gradient torque and the other to control the plate's orbit and attitude against disturbances. The interaction of the structural dynamics with the control system is investigated next. It is shown that the structural dynamics destabilizes the control system. The control design is modified to reduce the interactions, by including just a couple of flexural modes into the control logic and by optimally locating the thrusters a little away from the corners. The control structure interaction which is measured by the residual flexural energy after an orbit or attitude correction, is shown to be reduced by several orders of magnitude by the simple modifications. An approach to find an optimal location of actuators and a concept of “associated modes” are also proposed to help the designer evolve a very simple coupled orbit and attitude controllers with minimum control/structure interactions for very large flexible space systems of the future. This configuration considered represents the proposed solar power satellite, solar reflectors, communication platforms, etc.     

卫星地球-射频敏感器组合定姿滤波算法研究

基于卡尔曼滤波理论以及卫星定姿技术的发现状况，对卡尔曼滤波在静止轨道三轴稳定卫星红外地球敏感器和射频敏感器组合定姿中的应用作了一定的研究。建立了静止轨道三稳定卫星姿态动力学模型和红外－射频敏感器组合定姿的姿态量测模型，针对这一模型，应用推广的卡尔曼滤波进行姿态估计，并进行了计算机仿真，验证了滤波方法应用于静止轨道三轴稳定卫星红外地球敏感哭和射频敏感器组合定姿的有效性和优越性。     

同步轨道多星共位位置保持研究

本文对同步轨道多星共位位置保持策略进行了初步研究，阐述了该策略的基本原理及方法，并提出了对卫星姿控系统及地面测控系统的精度要求。     

Results of Kirari optical communication demonstration experiments with NICT optical ground station (KODEN) aiming for future classical and quantum communications in space

Bi-directional ground-to-satellite laser communication experiments were successfully performed between the optical ground station developed by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), located in Koganei City in suburban Tokyo, and a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, the “Kirari” Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite (OICETS). The experiments were conducted in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and called the Kirari Optical communication Demonstration Experiments with the NICT optical ground station (or KODEN). The ground-to-OICETS laser communication experiment was the first in-orbit demonstration involving the LEO satellite. The laser communication experiment was conducted since March 2006. The polarization characteristics of an artificial laser source in space, such as Stokes parameters, and the degree of polarization were measured through space-to-ground atmospheric transmission paths, which results contribute to the link estimation for quantum key distribution via space and provide the potential for enhancements in quantum cryptography on a global scale in the future. The Phase-5 experiment, international laser communications experiments were also successfully conducted with four optical ground stations located in the United States, Spain, Germany, and Japan from April 2009 to September 2009. The purpose of the Phase-5 experiment was to establish OICETS-to-ground laser communication links from the different optical ground stations and the statistical analyses such as the normalized power, scintillation index, probability density function, auto-covariance function, and power spectral density were performed. Thus the applicability of the satellite laser communications was demonstrated, aiming not only for geostationary earth orbit-LEO links but also for ground-to-LEO optical links. This paper presents the results of the KODEN experiments and mainly introduces the common analyses among the different optical ground stations.     

A compact, light-weight high data-rate antenna system for remote-sensing orbiters and space exploration

Upcoming space missions utilizing hyperspectral or other high-resolution sensors will generate a vast amount of data in orbit. The average communication duration between a spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) to a dedicated ground station is short and in addition, due to the high amount of data to be transferred at link times, a high-performance communication system on board of the satellite is indispensable.A solution that provides longer acquisition times with the ground station is to employ a high data-rate inter-satellite link to a geostationary relay satellite, which requires a flat, compact, steerable, light-weight yet robust antenna. Such an antenna system (antenna module plus pointing module) was developed for S-Band at the Institute of Astronautics (Technische Universität München), in cooperation with German space companies, research institutes and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Its successful operation via the geostationary relay satellite Artemis was demonstrated in cooperation with ESA in 2007.This paper describes the evaluation of an antenna system in the Ka-Band, as a successor to be developed in the next two years for high data rates and the various applications of such an antenna system.     

低轨星座对静止轨道卫星同频干扰指标研究

随着全球低轨星座系统的快速部署及应用,非静止轨道卫星对静止轨道卫星系统的同频干扰问题日益凸显。为保护静止轨道卫星系统不受有害干扰,国际电联现行无线电规则中规定了非静止轨道卫星系统应满足的等效功率通量密度限值或干扰噪声比限值,但所适用频段及限值标准仍在不断修订完善中。为了精确定量评估低轨星座对静止轨道卫星的同频干扰,通过对等效功率通量密度限值和干扰噪声比限值的确定方法及演进历程进行研究,分析了上述限值与静止轨道卫星实际被干扰的对应关系,并以典型倾斜轨道星座和极地轨道星座为例,分析了不同干扰指标对卫星系统间干扰判定结果的影响,当静止轨道卫星系统的实际被干扰门限低于国际电联制定等效功率通量密度限值选用的参考门限时,建议低轨星座选择干扰噪声比限值作为开展频率干扰分析与判定的依据。     

Mission analysis and systems design of a near-term and far-term pole-sitter mission

This paper provides a detailed mission analysis and systems design of a near-term and far-term pole-sitter mission. The pole-sitter concept was previously introduced as a solution to the poor temporal resolution of polar observations from highly inclined, low Earth orbits and the poor high-latitude coverage from geostationary orbit. It considers a spacecraft that is continuously above either the north or south pole and, as such, can provide real-time, continuous and hemispherical coverage of the polar regions. Being on a non-Keplerian orbit, a continuous thrust is required to maintain the pole-sitter position. For this, two different propulsion strategies are proposed, which result in a near-term pole-sitter mission using solar electric propulsion (SEP) and a far-term pole-sitter mission where the SEP thruster is hybridized with a solar sail. For both propulsion strategies, minimum propellant pole-sitter orbits are designed. In order to maximize the spacecraft mass at the start of the operations phase of the mission, the transfer from Earth to the pole-sitter orbit is designed and optimized assuming either a Soyuz or an Ariane 5 launch. The maximized mass upon injection into the pole-sitter orbit is subsequently used in a detailed mass budget analysis that will allow for a trade-off between mission lifetime and payload mass capacity. Also, candidate payloads for a range of applications are investigated. Finally, transfers between north and south pole-sitter orbits are considered to overcome the limitations in observations due to the tilt of the Earth's rotational axis that causes the poles to be alternately situated in darkness. It will be shown that in some cases these transfers allow for propellant savings, enabling a further extension of the pole-sitter mission.     

风云二号卫星地面控制系统自适应同步控制方法

针对风云二号07星测控实施过程中部分姿章联控参数未能正常执行的系统间时序控制不同步问题,研究提出一种地面控制系统自适应同步控制方法,分析卫星历史数据得到有效接收时间区间,取所有有效接收时间区间的交集得到最终有效接收时间区间。经验证,方法可有效解决系统间时序不同步的问题,精度高,控制效果好。     

基于ITU—R模型的降雨衰减特性研究与仿真

根据ITU-R雨衰预测模型,给出了静止轨道卫星降雨衰减顸测模型和非静止轨道卫星降雨衰减长期统计值计算方法。结合我国典型地面站的降雨率数据进行的仿真结果表明：所用模型和方法正确。研究对我国卫星通信系统的研究与设计有一定的参考价值。     

船载惯性测量单元姿态信息优化方法

随着海洋卫星通信技术的广泛应用，船载通信系统的需求量与日俱增。基于微电子系统的惯性测量单元主要用于测量船体姿态信息，实现姿态反馈与控制补偿，是船载卫星通信设备的核心器件。实际应用中通过卡尔曼滤波处理的惯性测量单元的姿态信息并不完善，经过分析惯性测量单元在运动过程中存在干扰性的有害加速度。分析了有害加速度的产生原因和对测量姿态的影响并提出姿态信息的优化方法。通过此优化方法可提升惯性测量单元的测量精度，增强船载通信系统的控制精度。     

一种基于正弦波高精度互模糊函数的通信卫星干扰定位技术

通信卫星系统易遭到敌方恶意干扰、地面无意干扰，对通信卫星系统的干扰排查具有重要意义，而通信卫星系统的干扰定位一直是重难点问题。在双星定位互模糊函数算法的基础上，提出了一种基于正弦波高精度互模糊函数频差估计方法，同时针对利用两颗静止通信卫星实现干扰定位时主信号和辅助信号信噪比差异大、辅助信号微弱的问题，采用改进的互模糊度函数实现双星TDOA和FDOA的测量，完成对通信卫星系统干扰信号的定位。仿真试验表明，采用本算法，对通信卫星系统干扰信号的定位精度较高，满足系统实际运用要求。     

GEO光学遥感卫星阳光入侵规避方法

地球静止轨道(GEO)光学遥感卫星的相机每天午夜时分存在阳光入侵问题,致使相机焦面存在潜在损伤,严重时将影响卫星的使用寿命。文章调研了国内外GEO光学遥感卫星针对此问题的解决方式,在综合考虑相机、电能、机动、热控、测控等各项影响因素之后,提出了一种应用约束规避算法的阳光入侵规避方法,首先将卫星设计的工程约束条件转换为空间几何约束条件,通过将明确约束参数后的算法引入卫星姿态控制器来调整卫星姿态指向,避免阳光入侵相机内部。典型工况的仿真分析结果表明:在规避过程中,相机光轴矢量与阳光入射矢量夹角满足约束条件,此方法有效,可满足卫星在轨应用。