Novel reconstructing algorithm of relative distances for angle-only relative navigation

Aiming at the key issue of the relative distance re-constructing in the angle-only relative navigation for mid and far-range rendezvous with space non-cooperative target, a novel algorithm is presented based on GPS absolute positioning, CCD relative angles of LOS measuring and an aided initial value of the relative distance. The mathematical substance and the characteristic of the traditional method are analyzed. And a re-constructing model is established based on the triangle principle integrated with the differential value between the sequences of GPS positioning at two different epochs. After that, the error of the reconstructing is analyzed by means of mathematical derivation and simulation. At last, two cases simulation of relative distance re-constructing is conducted, and the results show that the proposed algorithm can estimate the relative distance, and the estimation precision depends on the performance of the initial relative distance aided exterior. Thus, the proposed algorithm has important research and application value.