Angles-only navigation to a non-cooperative satellite using relative orbital elements

This work addresses the design and implementation of a prototype relative navigation tool that uses camera-based measurements collected by a servicer spacecraft to perform far- range rendezvous with a non-cooperative client in low Earth orbit. The development serves the needs of future on-orbit-servicing missions planned by the German Aerospace Center. The focus of the paper is on the design of the navigation algorithms and the assessment of the expected performance and robustness under real-world operational scenarios. The tool validation is accomplished through a high-fidelity simulation environment based on the Multi-Satellite-Simulator in combination with the experience gained from actual flight data from the GPS and camera systems on-board the PRISMA mission. © 2012 by Gabriella Gaias, Simone D'Amico, Jean-Sebastien Ardaens.