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Aerospace
Special Issues
Precise Orbit Determination of the Spacecraft
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Precise Orbit Determination of the Spacecraft

A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Astronautics & Space Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 1252

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yong Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, China
Interests: mainly engaged in spacecraft orbit determination (OD) and relating applications, and research field involves earth satellite as well as deep space exploration spacecraft; participated in the Chinese lunar exploration project and Mars exploration project; developed the OD software for lunar and Mars satellite independently; Interested in the application of altimetry data in deep space exploration, such as using altimetry data to improve the lunar topography as well as the orbit accuracy; also interested in the research on planetary gravity field and topography
Prof. Dr. Jianguo Yan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China
Interests: planetary science; planetary gravity field modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Precise Orbit Determination (POD) is very important for many science and technology research areas, such as planetary science, astrometry and celestial mechanics, space geodesy, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs), lunar and deep space exploration, and space situational awareness. POD technology has developed rapidly from the late 20th century, especially after entering the 21st century. This Special Issue entitled "Precise Orbit Determination of the Spacecraft" in Aerospace features articles exploring the latest advancements in POD technology, including Earth satellite and cislunar spacecraft, lunar spacecraft, and deep space spacecraft. The development of technology relating to POD, such as ground-based/space-based tracking technology and highly dynamic modeling of satellites, is also welcome.

The Editor of this Special Issue invites authors to submit papers addressing the challenges in POD technology.

The insights presented in this Special Issue will provide valuable information for researchers, professionals, and students involved in aerospace science, engineering, and related fields. Overall, the Special Issue comprehensively surveys recent trends, innovations, and future prospects of advanced POD technology.

Prof. Dr. Yong Huang
Prof. Dr. Jianguo Yan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Aerospace is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • orbit determination
  • GNSS data
  • deep space exploration
  • cislunar navigation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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20 pages, 8475 KiB  
Article
Confidence-Based Fusion of AC-LSTM and Kalman Filter for Accurate Space Target Trajectory Prediction
by Caiyun Wang, Jirui Zhang, Jianing Wang and Yida Wu
Aerospace 2025, 12(4), 347; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12040347 - 16 Apr 2025
Viewed by 233
Abstract
The accurate prediction of space target trajectories is critical for aerospace defense and space situational awareness, yet it remains challenging due to complex nonlinear dynamics, measurement noise, and environmental uncertainties. This study proposes a confidence-based dual-model fusion framework that separately processes linear and [...] Read more.
The accurate prediction of space target trajectories is critical for aerospace defense and space situational awareness, yet it remains challenging due to complex nonlinear dynamics, measurement noise, and environmental uncertainties. This study proposes a confidence-based dual-model fusion framework that separately processes linear and nonlinear trajectory components to enhance prediction accuracy and robustness. The Attention-Based Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory (AC-LSTM) network is designed to capture nonlinear motion patterns by leveraging temporal attention mechanisms and convolutional layers while also estimating confidence levels via a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)-based multitask learning approach. In parallel, the Kalman Filter (KF) efficiently models quasi-linear motion components, dynamically estimating its confidence through real-time residual monitoring. A confidence-weighted fusion mechanism adaptively integrates the predictions from both models, significantly improving overall prediction performance. Experimental results on simulated radar-based noisy trajectory data demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms conventional algorithms, offering superior precision and robustness. This approach holds great potential for applications in pace situational awareness, orbital object tracking, and space trajectory prediction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise Orbit Determination of the Spacecraft)
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26 pages, 3411 KiB  
Article
Examining the Accuracy of Differenced One-Way Doppler Orbit Determination Derived from Range-Only Relay Satellite Tracking
by Ashok Kumar Verma
Aerospace 2025, 12(4), 285; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12040285 - 28 Mar 2025
Viewed by 715
Abstract
This paper delves into the impact of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) constellation orbit accuracy on Differenced One-Way Doppler (DOWD)-based user spacecraft orbit determination, specifically when the TDRS orbit is derived solely from Telemetry, Tracking, and Command (TT&C) range-only tracking. The [...] Read more.
This paper delves into the impact of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) constellation orbit accuracy on Differenced One-Way Doppler (DOWD)-based user spacecraft orbit determination, specifically when the TDRS orbit is derived solely from Telemetry, Tracking, and Command (TT&C) range-only tracking. The study revealed that retiring the Bilateration Ranging Transponder System (BRTS) without fully comprehending the TT&C bias and its uncertainty could hinder achieving the required level of orbit precision for both TDRS satellites (<75 m) and user spacecraft (<300 m). If the TT&C range bias and its associated uncertainties are not accurately calibrated in a TT&C-based TDRS orbit, it could lead to an orbit error of up to 17 km in the TDRS, yielding a DOWD-based orbit error of up to 5 km for the user spacecraft. The research identifies a linear relationship between TDRS orbit error and user spacecraft orbit error, with several factors impacting the slope of this relationship, including the number of DOWD passes obtained, the TDRS’s relative position during DOWD measurement acquisition, and dynamic errors in the user spacecraft orbit. Despite the imprecision in the orbits of the TDRS and user spacecraft, the Local Oscillator Frequency drift estimation remains accurate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Precise Orbit Determination of the Spacecraft)
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