Resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing using Angles-Only Measurements to Cataloged Resident Space Objects
Abstract
This proposal responds to the urgent need to provide resilient Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) and Space Situational Awareness (SSA) capabilities for space assets using passive means (e.g., optical cameras) as opposed to conventional active sensing (e.g., GPS and-or ground tracking). We propose the research and prototyping of a new alternative space-based PNT-SSA system called Fast Autonomous Lost-in-space Catalog-based Optical Navigation (FALCON). FALCON is hosted on one or more user spacecraft to 1) determine their absolute orbits in real-time on-board from bearing angle measurements to visible Resident Space Objects (RSO) in a lost in space manner; and 2) refine the orbit knowledge of tracked RSO for better SSA coverage and timeliness. The key idea is to match RSO detected on-board to existing identities in the RSO catalog and use them as optical beacons for positioning. The realization of FALCON presents the following challenges- 1) Given an RSO catalog, how to simultaneously perform real-time RSO target identification and observer positioning without a-priori orbit knowledge. 2) How to guarantee compatibility with on-board computational limitations. 3) How to optimally design a space system using FALCON to ensure that PNT-SSA performance requirements can be achieved. Challenge 1) is addressed by trading three newly proposed algorithms for geometric Mixed-Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP), pattern-matching of time-varying RSO polygons, and fast sample-based initial orbit determination. Challenge 2) is addressed by training a Transformer Neural Network offline that is used on-board to speed-up and boost FALCON (especially RSO catalog processing and MINLP). Challenge 3) is addressed through a general graph-based observability-tasking technique which handles time-varying multi-nodal networks. FALCON will be validated using hardware-in-the-loop testbeds and flight data from the PI s Starling Formation-Flying Optical Experiment (StarFOX) which is currently in orbit. The proposed models and algorithms will provide new strategic capabilities for space-based resilient PNT and responsive SSA.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 06, 2025
- Source ID
- FA95502410314
Entities
People
- Simone D Amico
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Stanford University
- United States Air Force