Determination of the motion parameters for space vehicles in low-orbital satellite constellations using angular measurements with optical-electronic equipment

The capabilities of ground-based optoelectronic systems (OES) in solving the problem of trajectory linking for spacecraft in low-orbit multi-satellite systems using angular measurements are considered. A distinctive feature of the problem is the absence of slant range data in the measurement information, which results in poor observability of the object’s position along the line of sight and increased sensitivity of the estimates to measurement errors. Based on a numerical model of motion that takes into account the Earth’s flattening and atmospheric drag, and a model of angular measurement formation, computer simulations are performed to simulate the process of trajectory tieup using OES measurements with various rootmeansquare errors. Dependencies of the achievable accuracy in determining motion parameters on the observation interval are obtained for several levels of measurement error. It is shown that the achievable accuracy is determined jointly by the angular measurement error and the length of the measurement arc, and the dominant contribution to the error comes from the poorly observed radial component. The results make it possible to formulate requirements for the accuracy of OES used to monitor loworbit multisatellite systems and to plan measurement intervals.