Relative Navigation of Satellites Flying in Formation Using UKF and LKF
11th International Conference on Recent Advances in Air and Space Technologies, Conference Program, RAST 2026, İstanbul, Turkey, 13 - 15 May 2026, (Full Text)
- Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
- Doi Number: 10.1109/rast69551.2026.11672382
- City: İstanbul
- Country: Turkey
- Keywords: hill clohessy wiltshire, linear kalman filter, multi-satellite mission, unscented kalman filter
- Istanbul Gelisim University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
Precise relative navigation is essential for sustainable satellite missions. This study proposes a hybrid estimation framework that integrates Unscented and Linear Kalman Filters for relative state determination. Absolute orbital states are estimated from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements using an Unscented Kalman Filter(UKF), while relative motion is modeled with the Hill-Clohessy-Wiltshire (HCW) equations in the Local-Vertical Local-Horizontal (LVLH) frame and refined using a Linear Kalman Filter (LKF). Simulation results confirm that the proposed UKF-LKF architecture improves relative state estimation accuracy and robustness, enabling reliable autonomous formation-flying missions.