Attitude estimation for spacecraft docking based on EMVS array via PARAFAC algorithm

doi:10.23919/JSEE.2025.000030

Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics ›› 2025, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (3): 623-633.doi: 10.23919/JSEE.2025.000030

• ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY • Previous Articles

Attitude estimation for spacecraft docking based on EMVS array via PARAFAC algorithm

Bingqi LIU¹(), Guangdong CHEN²^,*(), Zhuhang LIU¹(), He SONG³()

¹ School of Electronic Information Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
² Research Institute of Unmanned Aircraft, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
³ School of Information Science and Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang 110870, China

Received:2024-07-06 Online:2025-06-18 Published:2025-07-10
Contact: Guangdong CHEN E-mail:lbqforwork@163.com;steve_chen3596@163.com;liuzhuhang0724@163.com;1165001688@qq.com
About author:
LIU Bingqi was born in 1999. He received his B.E. degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Jilin University, Jilin, China, in 2021. He is pursuing his M.S. degree in the College of Electronic Information Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China. His research interests are polarization sensitive array signal processing and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar. E-mail: lbqforwork@163.com

CHEN Guangdong was born in 1968. He received his B.S. degree in communication and information system from Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China, in 1990, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in communication and information system from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China, in 1997 and 2006, respectively. Since 2008, he has been a professor of the College of Electronic Information Engineering in Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His research interests include measurement and control, radar signal processing, radar imaging and polarization sensitive array signal processing. E-mail: steve_chen3596@163.com

LIU Zhuhang was born in 2000. He received his B.E. degree in life sciences and technology from Xi’an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi, China, in 2022. He is pursuing his M.S. degree in the College of Electronic Information Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China. His research interests are multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar and array signal processing. E-mail: liuzhuhang0724@163.com

SONG He was born in 2002. He is pursuing his B.E. degree in the School of information Science and Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology. His current research interest is array signal processing. E-mail: 1165001688@qq.com

Abstract

Abstract:

A spacecraft attitude estimation method based on electromagnetic vector sensors (EMVS) array is proposed, which employs the orthogonally constrained parallel factor (PARAFAC) algorithm and makes use of measurements of the two-dimensional direction-of-arrival (2D-DOA) and polarization angles, aiming to address the issues of incomplete, asynchronous, and inaccurate third-party reference used for attitude estimation in spacecraft docking missions by employing the electromagnetic wave’s three-dimensional (3D) wave structure as a complete third-party reference. Comparative analysis with state-of-the-art algorithms shows significant improvements in estimation accuracy and computational efficiency with this algorithm. Numerical simulations have verified the effectiveness and superiority of this method. A high-precision, reliable, and cost-effective method for rapid spacecraft attitude estimation is provided in this paper.

Key words: parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis, electromagnetic vector sensors, attitude estimation, state of polarization, spacecraft docking

Bingqi LIU, Guangdong CHEN, Zhuhang LIU, He SONG. Attitude estimation for spacecraft docking based on EMVS array via PARAFAC algorithm[J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2025, 36(3): 623-633.

Figures/Tables 8

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Step	Complexity
Step 1	O{3NK²}
Step 2	O{3TK²}
Step 3	O{3NKT}
Step 4	O{3³}

Attitude estimation for spacecraft docking based on EMVS array via PARAFAC algorithm

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