Hardware-in-loop simulation of autonomous relative navigation for noncooperative spacecraft

This paper presents a hardware-in-loop simulation to validate the autonomous relative navigation algorithm for noncooperative target spacecraft. The algorithm was based on the closed-form solution of linear Clohessy-Wiltshire (C-W) equations and nonlinear measurement equations. The navigation filter, a 6-state extended Kalman filter, processes angle measurements from an optical navigation camera along with range measurement from laser rangefinder data to estimate the relative position and velocity between two spacecrafts. A 15-degree-of-freedom closed-loop kinemical simulation platform was set up based on attitude and relative position motion. The filterpsilas performance was evaluated and tested by running a hardware-inloop simulation experiment containing the relative measurement sensors. The experimental results validate the proposed algorithm.