Precise Relative Navigation in Medium Earth Orbits with Global Navigation Satellite Systems and Intersatellite Links for Black Hole Imaging
María Salas (Student TU Delft, GMV Innovating Solutions)
Jaime Fernández (GMV Innovating Solutions)
J.A.A. van den Ijssel (TU Delft - Astrodynamics & Space Missions)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a ground-based array of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) telescopes designed to image the event horizon of black holes. To overcome its limitations, this study explores a mission concept involving a two-satellite constellation of VLBI telescopes deployed in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). Achieving high-resolution black hole images requires precise baseline determination at the millimetre level. To address this challenge, each satellite in the constellation is equipped with two Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers and an optical Intersatellite Link (ISL) to enhance orbit determination. The results highlight the importance of integer ambiguity resolution and reveal that the ISL primarily improves baseline estimation along the link direction, with minimal impact along the black hole direction. Large intersatellite distances lead to sub-optimal relative orbit accuracy, challenging the attainment of the 3.5 mm relative position accuracy goal along the black hole direction.
help_outline