Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences

Volume

70

Issue

3

Publisher

Springer

Publication Date

2-28-2023

Journal Article Version

Accepted Manuscript

First Page

1

Last Page

29

Abstract

This paper presents a study of formation flying design to optimize relative navigation performance when Global Positioning System (GPS) is unavailable. In GPS denied environments, relative navigation can be achieved through relative range measurements obtained from inter-satellite transceivers. Many formation flying missions require strict relative navigation performance. However, navigation performance using range measurements is highly dependent on the formation geometry. This research presents a method for designing formations such that relative navigation is optimized when using relative range measurements. Toward this, relative navigation performance metrics are derived as a function of formation design parameters. The structure and approach for optimizing these metrics are presented. This includes a presentation of the Divided Rectangles numerical optimization method for application in this field. To validate the optimized formations, a relative navigation filter is applied in a Monte Carlo simulation. Filter validation metrics are outlined and the performance of the optimal formations are presented and evaluated against the performance of the Monte Carlo sample formations. The validation results show that the optimization metrics yield formations with optimal relative navigation performance.

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