A Position Determination Method by Tracking Low Earth Orbit Satellites with Known Positions

In this manuscript, a position determination method by tracking low earth orbit (LEO) satellites with known positions is described. Based on the angle-only principle, the position and velocity model is deduced and further modified to suit one-target tracking applications, which can not only reduce the requirement for observation instruments, but also maintain the positioning accuracy. Radar is utilized to track these low earth orbit satellites in this contribution. In order to achieve higher direction vector measurement accuracy and reduce measurement errors, an inertial navigation system (INS) is mounted on the radar antenna to measure the azimuth and elevation angles directly. Some simulations are conducted to analyze the error sources of the proposed method. The marine experimental result indicates that the maximum position error is smaller than 150 m when the elevation angle is larger than 25°, which exhibits superior positioning performance than conventional CNS/INS integrated navigation system.