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Aerospace
Volume 13
Issue 7
10.3390/aerospace13070583
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Measurement-Oriented 3D Reconstruction and Attitude Estimation of Free-Tumbling Space Targets via Cooperative Multi-View Observation

by
Di Zhao
1,2,
Zhe Yue
1,*,
Wensong Zhang
3,4,*,
Jianping Yuan
2,
Weihua Ma
5,
Haofei Ban
1,
Sen Li
1 and
Weiwei Lei
1
1
School of Surveying and Land Information Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China
2
Binzhou Institute of Technology, Binzhou 256606, China
3
School of Intelligent Manufacturing, Tianmen Vocational College, Tianmen 431700, China
4
Aerospace Information Research Institute, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou 450001, China
5
School of Astronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Aerospace 2026, 13(7), 583; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace13070583 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 19 May 2026 / Revised: 16 June 2026 / Accepted: 26 June 2026 / Published: 27 June 2026
(This article belongs to the Section Astronautics & Space Science)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Accurate attitude measurement of non-cooperative space targets is essential for on-orbit servicing, active debris removal, and autonomous rendezvous missions. To address the challenges associated with unknown geometry, rapid tumbling motion, and the limited observability of single-view systems, this study proposes a cooperative multi-view measurement framework for three-dimensional reconstruction and attitude estimation. Multiple spacecraft are deployed to form a stable observation configuration, and multi-view image sequences are acquired to strengthen geometric constraints. A learning-based multi-view stereo reconstruction module is used to estimate depth information and reconstruct point clouds, which are further processed through iterative closest point (ICP) registration to derive inter-frame attitude variations. An extended Kalman filter (EKF) is then introduced to improve temporal consistency and suppress measurement noise. Validation is conducted in a numerical simulation using a simplified Fengyun-1 (FY-1) satellite model under a three-spacecraft cooperative fly-around scenario. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves high-precision attitude estimation, with attitude errors below 0.3∘ and positional errors within 0.05m. Comparative experiments show that the method maintains stable measurement performance under varying observation distances and viewing configurations. The proposed framework provides a reliable and robust measurement solution for dynamic attitude determination of free-tumbling space targets.
Keywords: attitude measurement; multi-view reconstruction; cooperative observation; non-cooperative space target; measurement accuracy; point cloud registration; extended Kalman filter attitude measurement; multi-view reconstruction; cooperative observation; non-cooperative space target; measurement accuracy; point cloud registration; extended Kalman filter

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Zhao, D.; Yue, Z.; Zhang, W.; Yuan, J.; Ma, W.; Ban, H.; Li, S.; Lei, W. Measurement-Oriented 3D Reconstruction and Attitude Estimation of Free-Tumbling Space Targets via Cooperative Multi-View Observation. Aerospace 2026, 13, 583. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace13070583

AMA Style

Zhao D, Yue Z, Zhang W, Yuan J, Ma W, Ban H, Li S, Lei W. Measurement-Oriented 3D Reconstruction and Attitude Estimation of Free-Tumbling Space Targets via Cooperative Multi-View Observation. Aerospace. 2026; 13(7):583. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace13070583

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhao, Di, Zhe Yue, Wensong Zhang, Jianping Yuan, Weihua Ma, Haofei Ban, Sen Li, and Weiwei Lei. 2026. "Measurement-Oriented 3D Reconstruction and Attitude Estimation of Free-Tumbling Space Targets via Cooperative Multi-View Observation" Aerospace 13, no. 7: 583. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace13070583

APA Style

Zhao, D., Yue, Z., Zhang, W., Yuan, J., Ma, W., Ban, H., Li, S., & Lei, W. (2026). Measurement-Oriented 3D Reconstruction and Attitude Estimation of Free-Tumbling Space Targets via Cooperative Multi-View Observation. Aerospace, 13(7), 583. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace13070583

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