Autonomous Relative Navigation for Small Spacecraft

Abstract

The thesis deals with the relative navigation between two small formation flying spacecraft. The inter-satellite distance is measured using locally generated radiofrequency ranging signals. Design considerations for the spacecraft and the relative navigation system are discussed as well as the estimation of the relative state. The influence of the number of antennas on each spacecraft, the antenna baseline, the ranging accuracy, the inter-satellite distance, and the relative motion on the relative navigation results and the observability of the system is extensively studied.