Acta Geodaetica et Cartographica Sinica ›› 2024, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (7): 1278-1287.doi: 10.11947/j.AGCS.2024.20230079

• Geodesy and Navigation • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Algorithm for ground positioning by simultaneously imaging stars and low orbit satellites

Rongwei ZHU1,2(), Yinhu ZHAN2(), Guangyun LI2   

  1. 1.Troops 61243, Urumqi 830000, China
    2.Institute of Surveying and Mapping, Information Engineering University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
  • Received:2023-04-07 Published:2024-08-12
  • Contact: Yinhu ZHAN E-mail:3475217943@qq.com;oscardad@163.com
  • About author:ZHU Rongwei (2001—), male, assistant engineer, majors in astronomical surveying and navigation. E-mail: 3475217943@qq.com
  • Supported by:
    The National Natural Science Foundation of China(42074013);Henan Provincial Science Foundation for Outstanding Young Scholars(242300421151)

Abstract:

Celestial positioning is widely used in land-based, sea-based, air-based and space-based platforms for its advantages of strong anti-interference, good concealment and non-accumulated error with time. In recent years, the rapid development of low-orbit giant constellation technology has provided an opportunity for the development of navigation technology. In this paper, we propose a positioning algorithm based on optical observation of low-Earth orbiter (LEO). First of all, the angles between the LEO and stars are considered as the basic observation, and the positioning model is derived in details. Then, the main error sources impacting on the positioning accuracy is analyzed, and the error propagation formulas are given. At last, the simulation experiments based on the Starlink constellation are conducted, the results of which show that the average positioning accuracy of this algorithm can totally reaches 30.5 m, with 4.3 m in north direction, 6.3 m in east direction and 29.5 m in vertical direction. The algorithm not only owns the advantages of traditional celestial positioning, but also gets rid of horizontal datum, providing a new way to develop the miniaturized, fast and automated celestial navigation equipment without the need of horizontal reference.

Key words: astronomical positioning, low-orbiting satellites, inter-satellite angular separation, precision analysis

CLC Number: