Review of Relative Navigation for Noncooperative Spacecraft in Close Range

Abstract

On-orbit Service (OOS) has demonstrated great potential in future space mission. The target in the OOS mission are often noncooperative spacecrafts. The unavailability of the artificial retroflectors and communication link makes it a great challenge to acquire the state of motion of the noncooperative target through relative navigation during the rendzvous in close range. Therefore the relative navigation represents one of the key techniques required for the success for the noncooperative rendezvous. In this article, the main research achievement about the relative navigation in close range for noncooperative spacecraft is reviewed. First, the state-of-art developments of noncooperative OOS projects and corresponding relative navigation scheme are reviewed. Second, the principle and application of different types of the electro-optical sensors are summarized. Third, the pose measurements techniques based on the 2D images and 3D point cloud are investigated respectively. Then, research on the relative navigation filter algorithm are summarized. Finally, the conclusion of this article and recommendation for the further development are presented.