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Article

Video Satellite Visual Tracking of Space Targets with Uncertainties in Camera Parameters and Target Position

College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(24), 3978; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17243978
Submission received: 20 October 2025 / Revised: 23 November 2025 / Accepted: 8 December 2025 / Published: 9 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Satellite Missions for Earth and Planetary Exploration)

Abstract

Video satellites feature agile attitude maneuverability and the capability for continuous target imaging, making them an effective complement to ground-based remote sensing technologies. Existing research on video satellite tracking methods generally assumes either accurately calibrated camera parameters or precisely known target positions. However, deviations in camera parameters and errors in target localization can significantly degrade the performance of current tracking approaches. This paper proposes a novel adaptive visual tracking method for video satellites to track near-circular space targets in the presence of simultaneous uncertainties in both camera parameters and target position. First, the parameters representing these two types of uncertainties are separated through linearization. Then, based on the real-time image tracking error and the current parameter estimates, an update law for the uncertain parameters and a visual tracking law are designed. The stability of the closed-loop system and the convergence of the tracking error are rigorously proven. Finally, quantitative comparisons are conducted using a defined image stability index against two conventional tracking methods. Simulation results demonstrate that under coexisting uncertainties, traditional control methods either fail to track the target or exhibit significant tracking precision degradation. In contrast, the average image error during the steady-state phase exhibits a reduction of approximately one order of magnitude with the proposed method compared to the traditional image-based approach, demonstrating its superior tracking precision under complex uncertainty conditions.
Keywords: video satellite; visual tracking; space-based observation; uncalibrated camera; space target; target position error video satellite; visual tracking; space-based observation; uncalibrated camera; space target; target position error

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Zhong, Z.; Fan, C.; Song, H. Video Satellite Visual Tracking of Space Targets with Uncertainties in Camera Parameters and Target Position. Remote Sens. 2025, 17, 3978. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17243978

AMA Style

Zhong Z, Fan C, Song H. Video Satellite Visual Tracking of Space Targets with Uncertainties in Camera Parameters and Target Position. Remote Sensing. 2025; 17(24):3978. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17243978

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhong, Zikai, Caizhi Fan, and Haibo Song. 2025. "Video Satellite Visual Tracking of Space Targets with Uncertainties in Camera Parameters and Target Position" Remote Sensing 17, no. 24: 3978. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17243978

APA Style

Zhong, Z., Fan, C., & Song, H. (2025). Video Satellite Visual Tracking of Space Targets with Uncertainties in Camera Parameters and Target Position. Remote Sensing, 17(24), 3978. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17243978

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