Satellite Attitude Research Articles

Handover Triggering Prediction with the Two-Step XGBOOST Ensemble Algorithm for Conditional Handover in Non-Terrestrial Networks

A Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) is a network system that enables service for areas where terrestrial networks cannot cover. An NTN provides communication services using flying objects such as UAVs, HAPs, and satellites. In the case of satellites, they move in Earth’s orbit at a constant speed. Ground services from continuously moving satellites cause frequent handovers. In addition, frequent handovers may come as a load between User Equipment (UE) and the communication system, which leads to degradation of service quality. Unlike Terrestrial Networks (TN), communication services are provided to UEs at altitudes ranging from 20 km to 35,584 km, rather than from base stations close to the ground. Service at high altitudes is unreliable due to the measurement values that were previously used as quality indicators to operate terrestrial networks. Moreover, service at high altitudes demands long-distance communication, and propagation delay occurs from the long-distance communication. In the 3GPP Rel. 17 document, it is suggested that the above problems should be solved. This paper tries to solve the problem by proposing the two-step XGBOOST, a CART-based Gradient Boosting Model. Handover in TN uses measurement-based conditional handover (CHO), but the measured values in the NTN environment are not valid. Using this, the distance between the UE and the center of the cell and the elevation angle are used to construct a model that predicts the HO triggering time point. In order to overcome the propagation delay caused by communication at a high altitude, a model that predicts the distance and elevation angle between the UE and the center of the cell considering the propagation delay is proposed. The model is composed of two-step XGBOOST. The one-step model is a model in which the UE predicts the distance and elevation angle between cell centers after propagation delay at the time when satellite position information is transmitted to the UE. The two-step model predicts handover triggering occurrence based on the data predicted by the one-step result. As a result of the experiment, the model considering the propagation delay showed about 8% better performance on average than the model not considering the propagation delay, and the XGBOOST model achieved an average F1-score of 0.9891 in the propagation delay experiments.

Navigating phase space transport with the origin-fate map.

We introduce and demonstrate the usage of the origin-fate map (OFM) as a tool for the detailed investigation of phase space transport in reactant-product-type systems. For these systems, which exhibit clearly defined start and end states, it is possible to build a comprehensive picture of the lobe dynamics by considering backward and forward integration of sets of initial conditions to index their origin and fate. We illustrate the method and its utility in the study of a two degrees of freedom caldera potential with four exits, demonstrating that the OFM not only recapitulates results from classical manifold theory but even provides more detailed information about complex lobe structures. The OFM allows the detection of dynamically significant transitions caused by the creation of new lobes and is also able to guide the prediction of the position of unstable periodic orbits (UPOs). Further, we compute the OFM on the periodic orbit dividing surface (PODS) associated with the transition state of a caldera entrance, which allows for a powerful analysis of reactive trajectories. The intersection of the manifolds corresponding to this UPO with other manifolds in the phase space results in the appearance of lobes on the PODS, which are directly classified by the OFM. This allows computations of branching ratios and the exploration of a fractal cascade of lobes as the caldera is stretched, which results in fluctuations in the branching ratio and chaotic selectivity. The OFM is found to be a simple and very useful tool with a vast range of descriptive and quantitative applications.

Charged particle dynamics in black hole split monopole magnetosphere

This article examines particle dynamics and acceleration in the magnetic Penrose process (MPP) around Kerr black hole (BH) in a split monopole magnetic field. The characteristics of charged particle motion around magnetized BHs reveal four differen feasible regimes of ionized Keplerian disk behaviour: survival in regular epicyclic motion; changing into a chaotic toroidal state; collapse due to escaping along magnetic field lines and collapse due to falling into the BHs. By making use of the effective potential, we have investigated the position of stable circular orbits for both in- and off-equatorial planes. We observed that the positive magnetic field {{mathcal {P}}}>0 increases the stability of effective potential, whereas {{mathcal {P}}}<0 diminishes its stability. We show that ultra-efficient energy extraction from spinning supermassive BH controlled by the MPP can pay the bill. We anticipate neutral particle ionization, such as neutron beta-decay, edging closer to the BH horizon, charging protons to more than 10^{20}eV for a supermassive BH of mass 10^9M_{odot } and a magnetic field of strength 10^4G.

Designing an Accurate Temperature Control System for Infrared Earth Simulators Using Semiconductor and Air Cooling Integration.

In a laboratory environment, in order to test the attitude recognition capability and accuracy of the satellite attitude sensor-the infrared Earth sensor-the infrared Earth simulator is fixed on a five-axis turntable to enable multi-angle testing. In the past, the temperature control system of the Earth simulator was water cooled, which not only affected the working accuracy of the Earth simulator but also affected its size and portability and made it more difficult to use on the turntable. Therefore, we designed a cooling method for the cold plate based on semiconductor cooling technology combined with air cooling, and we designed a fuzzy PID control algorithm to accurately control the temperature according to this cooling method. In this article, we use SOLIWORKS to build the system model for the system and use the ANAYS Workbench to perform temperature analysis of the Earth simulator. The results show that the cold plate temperature can be maintained at 20.089 °C when the hot plate temperature is 85 °C. The overall temperature uniformity of the hot plate is better than ±0.3 °C, which meets the index requirements of the Earth simulator. We found that this cooling method can replace water cooling, giving the simulator the advantage of being miniaturized, and it can be adaptable to the turntable, which can be widely used in various sizes of Earth simulators and in various complex environments and operating conditions.

A random error estimation method for satellites being launched into orbit based on ellipsoid theory

Accurate and fast random error estimation is essential to improve satellite control. In this paper, the random error of the satellite being launched into orbit is explored. According to the uncertainty matrix of six satellite orbit parameters associated with the project, the uncertainty of the orbit position in the three axes of the geocentric inertial frame of reference is calculated via the propagation rate of the covariance matrix. Then, the random error probability density of the satellite position is constructed for normal distribution. The surface of the error with the same probability density is approximated as an ellipsoid, the size is deduced along with the ellipsoid's shape and direction, and the satellite's spatial position probability is obtained. Monte Carlo method and STK software were employed to simulate low-earth orbit micro-nano satellite launching into the same orbital position. It is confirmed that the results obtained via the theoretical model are in line with practice. Therefore, the ellipsoid theory proposed in this paper can be used to describe the satellite random position error.

Spacecraft VLBI tracking to enhance stellar occultations astrometry of planetary satellites

Context. Stellar occultations currently provide the most accurate ground-based measurements of the positions of natural satellites (down to a few kilometres for the Galilean moons). However, when using these observations in the calculation of satellite ephemerides, the uncertainty in the planetary ephemerides dominates the error budget of the occultation. Aims. We quantify the local refinement in the central planet’s position achievable by performing Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) tracking of an in-system spacecraft temporally close to an occultation. We demonstrate the potential of using VLBI to enhance the science return of stellar occultations for satellite ephemerides. Methods. We identified the most promising observation and tracking opportunities offered by the Juno spacecraft around Jupiter as perfect test cases, for which we ran simulations of our VLBI experiment. Results. VLBI tracking at Juno’s perijove close to a stellar occultation locally (in time) reduces the uncertainty in Jupiter’s angular position in the sky to 250–400 m. This represents up to an order of magnitude improvement with respect to current solutions and is lower than the stellar occultation error, thus allowing the moon ephemeris solution to fully benefit from the observation. Conclusions. Our simulations showed that the proposed tracking and observation experiment can efficiently use synergies between ground- and space-based observations to enhance the science return on both ends. The reduced error budget for stellar occultations indeed helps to improve the moons’ ephemerides, which in turn benefit planetary missions and their science products, such as the recently launched JUICE and upcoming Europa Clipper missions.

Influence of 2-naphthoic acid anchoring groups to the photovoltaic performance of zinc phthalocyanine-based photosensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cell

Two different zinc phthalocyanines bearing different numbers of 2-naphthoic acid anchoring groups at the peripheral positions were synthesized and characterized with UV–Vis, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), fouirer transform infrared (FT-IR), and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass (MALDI-TOF MS) spectroscopy. Then their electrochemical, and spectroelectrochemical performances were investigated to predict their suitability of them as photosensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). In the voltammetric analysis results, [2,9,16-Tri-(4-carboxyethylphenoxy)-23-(4-[6-carboxy-2-naphtoxy]) substituted zinc(II) phthalocyanine (ZnPc(3)) and [2,9,16,23-tetra-(4-(6-carboxy-2-naphthoxy) substituted zinc(II) phthalocyanine (ZnPc(4)) illustrate similar electron transfer processes. The substituent environments of the complexes slightly influenced the position and reversibility of the redox couples. Redox processes of ZnPc(3) bearing unsymmetrical carboxyethylphenoxy and 2-naphthoic acid anchoring groups slightly shift towards the positive potentials concerning ZnPc(4) bearing symmetrical 2-naphthoic acid substituents. Peak positions of both complexes reflecting the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) positions indicate the suitability of the complexes for the efficient charge carrier transferring from these photosensitizers to the semiconductor and redox mediator in the DSSC. Pc-based spectroelectrochemical responses of the complexes supported the HOMO and LUMO positions for both neutral and electrogenerated ZnPc species. DSSC responses indicated that ZnPc(3), which has the asymmetric carboxyethylphenoxy and 2-naphthoic acid substituents, gave higher DSSC efficiency withshort-circuit photocurrent density (JSC) (9.54 mA cm−2), open circuit potential (VOC) (697 mV), fill factor (FF) (51%), incident monochromatic photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) (51%), and power conversion efficiency (ƞ) (3.4%) parameters concerning ZnPc(4) bearing symmetric 2-naphthoic acid anchoring groups.

Attitude Control and Parameter Optimization: A Study on Hubble Space Telescope

Abstract In this work, we build a satellite attitude Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controlled system by using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) parameters as a reference and tune its controller parameters using various tuning methods. First, we give the equations for the motion of a satellite. We elaborate the control structure as controller, actuator, dynamics, and kinematics subsystems and construct an external disturbance model. We use a reaction wheel assembly used in the HST with the same configuration as the actuator. We evaluate the performance of the linearization by comparing it with the nonlinear model output. By working on the linearized model, we tune the PID controller parameters using two different methods: “Model-Based Root Locus Tuning” and “Genetic Algorithm Based Tuning”. First, we obtain the controller parameters by manipulating the poles on the root locus plot of the linearized system. In addition, we use genetic algorithms to find the optimized controller values of the system. Finally, we compare the performances of the two methods based on their cost function values and find that the Genetic Algorithm-based tuned parameters are more fruitful in terms of the cost function value than the parameters obtained by the Root Locus-based tuning. However, it is found that the Root Locus-based tuning performs better in disturbance rejection.

Smoothened Absolute Kinematic Position Estimation Of Leo Satellite Using Gps Observables

In this paper, our objective is to use the navigation signals (pseudorange and carrier phase measurements) from GPS to kinematically estimate the absolute position of a low Earth orbit satellite and its receiver clock biases. GPS observables can estimate the precise position of a satellite in near real time. The GPS satellite navigation file is downloaded from Scripps Orbit and Permanent Array Centre (SOPAC) website for starting epoch of 01-01-2016 00:00 UT. The observables are then generated for a Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellite at an altitude of 901.4 km. The absolute position is estimated using pseudorange measurements. The accuracies obtained are (5.68 8.04 6.17) m in ECEF frame. This estimated absolute position is then smoothened with the time-differenced carrier phase measurements. The Kalman filter gains are computed in near real time. The smoothened accuracies obtained are (2.24 2.60 2.6982) m in ECEF frame, thus showing improved estimated absolute position accuracy.

Application of Dynamic Neural Network Model for Magneto- Coulombic Attitude Control of Earth-Pointing Satellite

An active control of the satellite attitude using magneto-Coulombic actuators is proposed along the circular orbit. Equation for the required charges on the Coulomb shells is derived, which is used to find the available control torque along the three body axes. It is proved that the eigenvalues of the averaged control matrix of the magneto-Coulombic system in the body reference frame for different orientations and angular velocities components will converge to the same values as in the case of the eigenvalues of the averaged control matrix in the orbital reference frame. A dynamic neural network based control law is adapted and trained for the proposed system. The neural network based dynamic neural network controller has the advantages of handling the non-linearity, adaptation and on-board training, and robust to large changes in the parameters in the plant, such as the moments of inertia. It is shown that the stabilization accuracy of the dynamic neural controller is higher as compared to the proportional-derivative based controller.

A Systematic Approach for Inertial Sensor Calibration of Gravity Recovery Satellites and Its Application to Taiji-1 Mission

High-precision inertial sensors or accelerometers can provide references for free-falling motion in gravitational fields in space. They serve as the key payloads for gravity recovery missions such as CHAMP, the GRACE-type missions, and the planned Next-Generation Gravity Missions. In this work, a systematic method for electrostatic inertial sensor calibration of gravity recovery satellites is suggested, which is applied to and verified with the Taiji-1 mission. With this method, the complete operating parameters including the scale factors, the center of mass offset vector, and the intrinsic biased acceleration can be precisely calibrated with only two sets of short-term in-orbit experiments. This could reduce the gaps in data that are caused by necessary in-orbit calibrations during the lifetime of related missions. Taiji-1 is the first technology-demonstration satellite of the “Taiji Program in Space”, which, in its final extended phase in 2022, could be viewed as operating in the mode of a high–low satellite-to-satellite tracking gravity mission. Based on the principles of calibration, swing maneuvers with time spans of approximately 200 s and rolling maneuvers for 19 days were conducted by Taiji-1 in 2022. Given the data of the actuation voltages of the inertial sensor, satellite attitude variations, precision orbit determinations, the inertial sensor’s operating parameters are precisely re-calibrated with Kalman filters and are relayed to the Taiji-1 science team. The relative errors of the calibrations are &lt;1% for the linear scale factors, &lt;3% for center of mass, and &lt;0.1% for biased accelerations. Data from one of the sensitive axes are re-processed with the updated operating parameters, and the resulting performance is found to be slightly improved over the former results. This approach could be of high reference value for the accelerometer or inertial sensor calibrations of the GFO, the Chinese GRACE-type mission, and the Next-Generation Gravity Missions. This could also create some insight into the in-orbit calibrations of the ultra-precision inertial sensors for future GW space antennas because of the technological inheritance between these two generations of inertial sensors.

Real-Time Precise Position Estimation of Geostationary Earth Orbit Satellites Using Ground Beacons

This paper presents a method for precise estimation of the position of Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite, using radio-waves, from at least four beacons mounted on the ground. The locations of these beacons are known and fixed with respect to an observer on the Earth. GPS-based instantaneous position determination has been studied in the literature extensively since early 1980’s, and has been used on-board Low-Earth satellites. However, for Geostationary Earth Orbits (GEO) the visibility of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites is limited to a small conical annulus formed by the main beam of the GPS satellite on the far side of the GPS-Earth cone. So at any measurement epoch there may not be four GPS satellites available to form four independent equations to solve explicitly for the required four unknowns. GEO being the most prominent of orbits with diverse applications, so we propose in this paper a new concept of use of ground based beacons for real time precise orbit determination of GEO satellites. The technique presented in this paper is inverse Global Navigation by Satellite Systems (GNSS). The usual case is GNSS/GPS signal from space is used to estimate the position of the satellite/object fitted with GNSS receiver. In the present scheme GEO satellite is fitted with a receiver and beacons are mounted at the ground in India or globally. The present scenario is thus different but slightly. This interesting concept will be useful for position estimation of GEO satellites equipped with a receiver to get measurements or observables from beacons. The simulation results have shown that it is possible to find the precise position of the Earth orbit satellites at GEO altitude.

Research on the Model Predictive Trajectory Tracking Control of Unmanned Ground Tracked Vehicles

This article summarizes the research significance and the development status of the unmanned ground tracked vehicles (UGTVs). According to the speed and steering principle of the UGTVs in plane motion, the kinematic state space equation of the vehicle is established. Based on the model predictive control (MPC), the UGTVs trajectory tracking controller is also established. After introducing the overall control system solution, based on the vehicle model, the track speed on both sides is used as the control input to solve the predicted output of the system. After constraining the control amount, the model prediction controller is established by using S function. Several simulations with different preset speeds are performed under linear conditions, and the numerical simulation with different prediction time domains and control time domains are performed under continuous curves. The test validates the effectiveness of the controller, and the effects of speed and time domain parameters on the deviation are analyzed based on the results. Based on satellite positioning technology, trajectory tracking tests of the UGTVs are carried out. After analyzing the positioning principle and common errors, the real-time kinematic technology is used to improve the positioning accuracy of the vehicle prototype. The hardware of the test platform includes a data acquisition system, a control execution system and a walking execution system, and the software part includes data processing and optimization control. The trajectory tracking experiments under different driving conditions are conducted, and the results show that the navigation tracking system can achieve good tracking performance.

Estimation of satellite attitude dynamics and external torques via mixed Kalman/H-infinity filter under inertia uncertainties

Estimation of satellite attitude dynamics and external torques via mixed Kalman/H-infinity filter under inertia uncertainties

Simultaneous recognition of the orbital angular momentum and phase singularity position of multiple vortex beams from speckle pattern via deep learning

The orbital angular momentum (OAM) carried by vortex beams can be used for encoding information in optical communications. The measurement of OAM is critical for these applications. However, traditional methods of measuring OAM are invalid in the presence of a scattering medium because the spiral wavefront of a vortex beam is distorted. To address this issue, we propose a deep learning-based method to simultaneously recognize the OAM and the position of the phase singularity from the speckle pattern generated by the propagation of vortex beams through a scattering medium. Our method achieves an accuracy of more than 98 % in identifying both the topological charge and singularity position information of multi-beam vortex beams with changing positions using deep learning technology. We also explore the minimum displacement accuracy that can be recognized by the neural network. When the displacement of the vortex beam with changing position is reduced to 1 pixel (12.5 µm), the information recognition accuracy remains above 95 %. Our method is a promising approach for accurate and efficient measurement of OAM and phase singularity position in the presence of scattering media.

Variable-structure PD controller for satellite attitude: Stability analysis and design for optimal performance

A novel variable structure controller is investigated for satellite attitude control. This novel controller does not lead to a sliding mode, which avoids the chattering problem, making it suitable for practical implementation. Detailed formulation of the controller is presented along with analytical stability analysis for a second order system. The system having this nonlinear controller is homogeneous, which leads to a similar response at large and small deviations from the equilibrium. A procedure for tuning homogeneous controllers for all initial conditions is proposed. A detailed model of the satellite attitude dynamics, actuator dynamics, and delays in the system is utilized to optimize controller gains numerically. A comparative analysis shows the superiority of the proposed controller over a conventional PID controller in terms of better transients and lower energy consumption.

Assimilating GNSS TEC with an LETKF over Yunnan, China

A robust ionospheric model is indispensable for providing the atmospheric delay corrections for global navigation satellite system (GNSS) navigation and positioning and forecasting the space environment. The accuracy of ionospheric models is limited due to the simplified model structures. Complicated spatiotemporal variations in total electron content (TEC) biases between GNSS and international reference ionosphere (IRI) suggest a robust strategy to optimally combine GNSS and IRI TEC for high-precision modeling. In this paper, we propose a novel ionospheric data assimilation method, which is a local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF), to construct an ionospheric model over Yunnan in southwestern China. We used the LETKF method to assimilate the ionospheric TEC extracted from GNSS observations in Yunnan into the IRI-2016 model. The experimental results indicate that the ionospheric data assimilation has a more pronounced improvement effect on the IRI empirical model during periods of geomagnetic quiet than during periods of geomagnetic disturbance. On quiet magnetic days, the skill score (SKS) of the assimilation is 0.60 and the root mean square error (RMSE) values before and after assimilation are 5.08 TECU and 2.02 TECU, respectively. The correlation coefficient after assimilation increases from 0.94 to 0.99. On magnetic storm days, the SKS of the assimilation is 0.42 and the RMSE values before and after assimilation are 5.99 TECU and 3.46 TECU, respectively. The correlation coefficient after assimilation increases from 0.98 to 0.99. The results suggest that the LETKF algorithm can be considered an effective method for ionospheric data assimilation.

Robust nonlinear MPC without terminal constraint for tracking changing setpoints in the presence of non‐additive unknown disturbance

AbstractThis paper develops a novel robust tracking model predictive control (MPC) without terminal constraint for discrete‐time nonlinear systems capable to deal with changing setpoints and unknown non‐additive bounded disturbances. The MPC scheme without terminal constraint avoids difficult computations for the terminal region and is thus simpler to design and implement. However, the existence of disturbances and/or sudden changes in a setpoint may lead to feasibility and stability issues in this method. In contrast to previous works that considered changing setpoints and/or additive slowly varying disturbance, the proposed method is able to deal with changing setpoints and non‐additive non‐slowly varying disturbance. The key idea is the addition of tightened input and state (tracking error) constraints as new constraints to the tracking MPC scheme without terminal constraints based on artificial references. In the proposed method, the optimal tracking error converges asymptotically to the invariant set for tracking, and the perturbed system tracking error remains in a variable size tube around the optimal tracking error. Closed‐loop input‐to‐state stability and recursive feasibility of the optimization problem for any piece‐wise constant setpoint and non‐additive disturbance are guaranteed by tightening input and state constraints as well as weighting the terminal cost function by an appropriate stabilizing weighting factor. The simulation results of the satellite attitude control system are provided to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed predictive controller.

Low-Cost Orientation Determination System for CubeSat Based Solely on Solar and Magnetic Sensors.

CubeSats require accurate determination of their orientation relative to the Sun, Earth, and other celestial bodies to operate successfully and collect scientific data. This paper presents an orientation system based on solar and magnetic sensors that offers a cost-effective and reliable solution for CubeSat navigation. Solar sensors analyze the illumination on each face to measure the satellite's orientation relative to the Sun, while magnetic sensors determine the Earth's magnetic field vector in the satellite's reference frame. By combining the measured data with the known ephemeris of the satellite, the satellite-Sun vector and the magnetic field orientation can be reconstructed. The orientation is expressed using quaternions, representing the rotation from the internal reference system of the satellite to the selected reference system. The proposed system demonstrates the ability to accurately determine the orientation of a CubeSat using only two sensors, making it suitable for installations where more complex and expensive instruments are impractical. Additionally, the paper presents a mathematical model of a low-cost CubeSat orientation system and a hardware implementation of the sensor. The technology, using solar and magnetic sensors, provides a reliable and affordable solution for CubeSat navigation, supporting the increasing sophistication of miniature payloads and enabling accurate satellite positioning in space missions.

Satellite Optical Brightness

The apparent brightness of satellites is calculated as a function of satellite position as seen by a ground-based observer in darkness. Both direct illumination of the satellite by the Sun as well as indirect illumination due to reflection from the Earth are included. The reflecting properties of the satellite components and of the Earth must first be estimated (the Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function, or BRDF). The reflecting properties of the satellite components can be found directly using lab measurements or accurately inferred from multiple observations of a satellite at various solar angles. Integrating over all scattering surfaces leads to the angular pattern of flux from the satellite. Finally, the apparent brightness of the satellite as seen by an observer at a given location is calculated as a function of satellite position. We develop an improved model for reflection of light from Earth’s surface using aircraft data. We find that indirectly reflected light from Earth’s surface contributes significant increases in apparent satellite brightness. This effect is particularly strong during civil twilight. We validate our approach by comparing our calculations to multiple observations of selected Starlink satellites and show significant improvement on previous satellite brightness models. Similar methodology for predicting satellite brightness has already informed mitigation strategies for next-generation Starlink satellites. Measurements of satellite brightness over a variety of solar angles widens the effectiveness of our approach to virtually all satellites. We demonstrate that an empirical model in which reflecting functions of the chassis and the solar panels are fit to observed satellite data performs very well. This work finds application in satellite design and operations, and in planning observatory data acquisition and analysis.