Abstract

Large satellite constellations need continuous, high-precision knowledge of every node’s position and velocity to keep cross-links aligned and to perform collision-avoidance manoeuvres. Dependence on ground-based space situational awareness or GNSS creates a single point of failure that can be jammed, denied or simply out of contact.

This paper describes a fully decentralized software architecture that lets a constellation maintain a consistent ephemeris map using only inter-satellite links. Each satellite runs a local orbital propagator and keeps a state matrix for the whole constellation. When two nodes establish a link they exchange compact state vectors together with an explicit Epistemic Confidence Weight. The weight is computed from the age of the last absolute calibration, the local clock-drift estimate and the trace of the covariance matrix. Receiving nodes merge the incoming data with Covariance Intersection (including common variants of the algorithm). No master node or global lock is required; the collective map remains consistent with physical reality under partial connectivity.

The framework is intended for LEO mega-constellations, lunar or Martian orbital arrays, and any mission that must operate in contested or ground-denied environments.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS