Formation Flying Satellites: Control By an Astrodynamicist

Satellites flying in formation is a concept being pursued by the Air Force and NASA. Potential periodic formation orbits have been identified using Hill's (or Clohessy Wiltshire) equations. Unfortunately the gravitational perturbations destroy the periodicity of the orbits and control will be required to maintain the desired orbits. Since fuel will be one of the major factors limiting the system lifetime it is imperative that fuel consumption be minimized. To maximize lifetime we not only need to find those orbits which require minimum fuel we also need for each satellite to have equal fuel consumption and this average amount needs to be minimized. Thus, control of the system has to be addressed, not just control of each satellite. In this paper control of the individual satellites as well as the constellation is addressed from an astrodynamics perspective.     

基于GIS的无人机地面监控系统的设计与实现

在分析无人机领域飞行数据特征的基础上,设计实现了一套功能较为完善的无人机地面监控系统。该系统主要完成了无人机飞行状态实时显示、航线规划和航线回放等功能模块。系统借助于G IS技术,导入矢量形式的电子地图,利用丰富的地理信息来辅助实现无人机的地面监控,在V isual C 6.0开发环境下利用基于异步方式和事件驱动方式的串口通信实现了系统与地面控制站的通信,利用地图控制文件实现了地图数据的调度,利用显示缓存实现了视图实时刷新。经过实际联调,系统运行良好,实用性较好。     

基于增强型GPS的自适应UKF实时星间相对定位方法

高精度的星间实时相对定位是卫星编队飞行的一项关键技术。本文以双星编队为例,提出一种基于GPS双频P码、双频载波相位以及星间距离观测信息的自适应UKF、实时相对定位方法。仿真结果表明:相比传统的EKF方法,该算法能有效地提高滤波稳定性及相对定位精度,而且,星间测距信息的引入能大大减少整周模糊度判定所需的历元数。     

基于形态法的西北太平洋柔鱼种群结构研究

西北太平洋柔鱼是我国鱿钓渔业重要捕捞对象,种群结构是渔业生物学研究的基础内容.文中根据2007年7~10月40°N~45°N,151°E~158°E海域连续采集的1 342尾柔鱼样本,测定其胴长(ML)、腕长等12项形态指标,利用正态线性转化、主成分分析和判别分析等方法研究雌雄个体的种群结构.结果表明,该海域雌、雄柔鱼均存在大小2个种群.均数差异显著性表明,雌性个体2个种群在MW/ML和FW/ML存在显著差异,雄性个体在MW/ML和AL_3/ML存在显著差异,但其形态差异仍属于种内差异.主成分分析和逐步判别分析的判别准确率(雌性60.3%,雄性60.1%),说明所划分的种群在部分形态比指标上差异明显.研究认为,形态学指标可初步区分西北太平洋柔鱼种群,但需结合其他生态学指标和耳石等硬组织进一步划分.     

Approximate analysis for relative motion of satellite formation flying in elliptical orbits

This paper studies the relative motion of satellite formation flying in arbitrary elliptical orbits with no perturbation. The trajectories of the leader and follower satellites are projected onto the celestial sphere. These two projections and celestial equator intersect each other to form a spherical triangle, in which the vertex angles and arc-distances are used to describe the relative motion equations. This method is entitled the reference orbital element approach. Here the dimensionless distance is defined as the ratio of the maximal distance between the leader and follower satellites to the semi-major axis of the leader satellite. In close formations, this dimensionless distance, as well as some vertex angles and arc-distances of this spherical triangle, and the orbital element differences are small quantities. A series of order-of-magnitude analyses about these quantities are conducted. Consequently, the relative motion equations are approximated by expansions truncated to the second order, i.e. square of the dimensionless distance. In order to study the problem of periodicity of relative motion, the semi-major axis of the follower is expanded as Taylor series around that of the leader, by regarding relative position and velocity as small quantities. Using this expansion, it is proved that the periodicity condition derived from Lawden’s equations is equivalent to the condition that the Taylor series of order one is zero. The first-order relative motion equations, simplified from the second-order ones, possess the same forms as the periodic solutions of Lawden’s equations. It is presented that the latter are further first-order approximations to the former; and moreover, compared with the latter more suitable to research spacecraft rendezvous and docking, the former are more suitable to research relative orbit configurations. The first-order relative motion equations are expanded as trigonometric series with eccentric anomaly as the angle variable. Except the terms of order one, the trigonometric series’ amplitudes are geometric series, and corresponding phases are constant both in the radial and in-track directions. When the trajectory of the in-plane relative motion is similar to an ellipse, a method to seek this ellipse is presented. The advantage of this method is shown by an example.     

Canonical Modelling of Relative Spacecraft Motion Via Epicyclic Orbital Elements

This paper presents a Hamiltonian approach to modelling spacecraft motion relative to a circular reference orbit based on a derivation of canonical coordinates for the relative state-space dynamics. The Hamiltonian formulation facilitates the modelling of high-order terms and orbital perturbations within the context of the Clohessy–Wiltshire solution. First, the Hamiltonian is partitioned into a linear term and a high-order term. The Hamilton–Jacobi equations are solved for the linear part by separation, and new constants for the relative motions are obtained, called epicyclic elements. The influence of higher order terms and perturbations, such as Earth’s oblateness, are incorporated into the analysis by a variation of parameters procedure. As an example, closed-form solutions for J₂-invariant orbits are obtained.     

The DynaMICCS perspective

The DynaMICCS mission is designed to probe and understand the dynamics of crucial regions of the Sun that determine solar variability, including the previously unexplored inner core, the radiative/convective zone interface layers, the photosphere/chromosphere layers and the low corona. The mission delivers data and knowledge that no other known mission provides for understanding space weather and space climate and for advancing stellar physics (internal dynamics) and fundamental physics (neutrino properties, atomic physics, gravitational moments...). The science objectives are achieved using Doppler and magnetic measurements of the solar surface, helioseismic and coronographic measurements, solar irradiance at different wavelengths and in-situ measurements of plasma/energetic particles/magnetic fields. The DynaMICCS payload uses an original concept studied by Thalès Alenia Space in the framework of the CNES call for formation flying missions: an external occultation of the solar light is obtained by putting an occulter spacecraft 150 m (or more) in front of a second spacecraft. The occulter spacecraft, a LEO platform of the mini sat class, e.g. PROTEUS, type carries the helioseismic and irradiance instruments and the formation flying technologies. The latter spacecraft of the same type carries a visible and infrared coronagraph for a unique observation of the solar corona and instrumentation for the study of the solar wind and imagers. This mission must guarantee long (one 11-year solar cycle) and continuous observations (duty cycle > 94%) of signals that can be very weak (the gravity mode detection supposes the measurement of velocity smaller than 1 mm/s). This assumes no interruption in observation and very stable thermal conditions. The preferred orbit therefore is the L1 orbit, which fits these requirements very well and is also an attractive environment for the spacecraft due to its low radiation and low perturbation (solar pressure) environment. This mission is secured by instrumental R and D activities during the present and coming years. Some prototypes of different instruments are already built (GOLFNG, SDM) and the performances will be checked before launch on the ground or in space through planned missions of CNES and PROBA ESA missions (PICARD, LYRA, maybe ASPIICS).     

Effect of flying altitude and pulse repetition frequency on laser scanner penetration rate for digital elevation model generation in a tropical forest

In tropical forests, the penetration ability of airborne laser scanning (ALS) may be limited because of highly dense vegetation cover. However, in the typical planning of ALS surveys, the ability of laser pulses to penetrate forests is not considered. Nine round-trip flight lines covering the area of a tropical forest on the northeast side of the Tsengwen Reservoir in Taiwan were designed in this study. Five flight lines flew at altitudes of 1.525, 1.830, 2.135, 2.440, and 2.745 km, and the other four had pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs) of 100, 150, 200, and 250 kHz. The laser penetration index (LPI) is a quantitative index measuring the penetration ability of the ALS and consists of the ratio of the number of laser pulses reaching the forest floor to the total number of laser pulses. The LPI was used to represent the laser penetration rate and investigate the influence of flying altitude and PRF on the LPI. The results showed that as the flying altitude decreased by 1 km, the average LPI increased by 10%, and as the PRF decreased by 50 kHz, the average LPI increased by 2%. The effect of the LPI on digital elevation models (DEMs) was confirmed by visual images obtained by DEMs at five altitudes. The DEM obtained at an altitude of 2.745 km was coarsely textured, whereas that obtained at an altitude of 1.525 km was finely textured. The in-situ height data obtained from the electronic Global Navigation Satellite System (eGNSS) were compared with the data of the ALS-generated DEMs. The results indicated that when the LPI ≥60%, the height difference between the in situ data and DEM data was not prominent. However, when the LPI <60%, the ALS-derived DEM could be higher or lower than the in-situ height; the largest difference between the two was 1.7 m. The LPI of a forest should be considered for ALS survey planning, especially when consistent DEM precision for large tropical forest areas is paramount.     

内编队重力场测量系统轨道参数与载荷指标设计方法

内编队系统通过构造内卫星纯引力轨道完成高精度重力场测量,实现了不依赖于加速度计的重力卫星实施新途径.针对内编队系统轨道参数和载荷指标设计任务,从定性的角度分析了轨道高度、轨道倾角、偏心率等轨道参数的选择原则,以及外卫星定轨精度、内外卫星相对状态测量精度、内卫星非引力干扰抑制精度、系统采样率等载荷指标对内编队重力场测量性能的影响,并建立了这些参数之间的匹配关系.为获取内编队系统轨道参数和载荷指标的定量设计结果,给出了内编队重力场测量数据模拟和反演计算方法.结合轨道参数和载荷指标对重力场测量性能的影响及其匹配关系,提出了由解析推导和数值计算相结合的方法,获取重力场最高反演阶数、大地水准面精度、重力异常精度等重力场测量性能与轨道参数、载荷指标之间的解析关系,并给出了该解析关系的具体数学形式.与解析法、半解析法相比,该公式由解析推导和大量数值计算得到,因而考虑的影响因素更加全面,计算结果更加合理,可用于快速准确设计内编队系统轨道参数和载荷指标.     

Distributed Space Segment for High Energy Astrophysics: Similarities And specificites

This paper analyses two height energy astrophysics missions, MAX and SIMBOL-X, which have been studied in CNES in the frame of a large formation flying study program. It is particularly interesting to notice that the scientific specifications of two different missions lead to the same engineering solutions for the whole mission aspects and then advocate for a similar space segment architecture and re-use of common elements, thus allowing potential cost reductions for a second mission.In deed, the same level of data to download and a similar signal-to-noise ratio requirements leads to the same orbit and communications system, the same level of pointing precision and distance inter satellites lead to the same formation flying Guidance Navigation and Command (GNC) architecture. At the end, the same level of mass and thermal constraints leads to the same range of platform and the same propulsion systems and finally to the same launcher.