The present invention relates to an aerospace vehicle navigation and control system comprising a terrestrial illumination matching module for determining spacecraft position and attitude. The method permits aerospace vehicle position and attitude determinations using terrestrial lights using an Earth-pointing camera without the need of a dedicated sensor to track stars, the sun, or the horizon. Thus, a module for making such determinations can easily and inexpensively be made onboard an aerospace vehicle if an Earth-pointing sensor, such as a camera, is present.
Aerospace vehicle navigation and control system comprising terrestrial illumination matching module for determining aerospace vehicle position and attitude
2024-01-16
Patent
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Europäisches Patentamt | 2021
|Aerospace Vehicle Navigation Systems
NTIS | 1967
|Unmanned Aerospace Vehicle Navigation
Wiley | 2016
|