Successive observation oriented scheduling and task planning of heterogeneous constellation

Abstract

This paper put forward a method to address the problem, of how to select multiple satellites from a given heterogeneous constellation and plan their tasks to implement a temporary mission for ground or aerial targets successive observation, while hardly affecting the constellation’s original mission as much as possible. First, considering the observation geometric constraints of the satellite on the target, an observability analysis model for effective observation of the satellite on the target is established to characterize the observable spatio-temporal scope. Considering the time-length requirement of sustained observation on the target, a multi-satellite-to-target sustained observation model is constructed for the scheduling of satellites. Second, to address the problem of selecting task satellites in a given heterogeneous constellation, a mathematical model for task planning is established to maximize observation benefits and minimize task burdens. Third, a hybrid method of multi-satellite scheduling and task planning is designed with fault tolerance, based on dynamic programming and an improved contract network protocol algorithm. Next, a joint simulation software system is established through the secondary development of STK and Python, which includes satellite-target observability analysis, task satellite selection, task allocation and planning, and full process visible demonstration functions. Finally, simulation cases verified the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed technique.