Research of Satellite-to-Satellite Passive Tracking Using Bearings-Only Measurements In J2000 ECI Frame

Based on the problems of singularity while using classic orbit elements in satellite bearings-only passive tracking and the lack of physical meanings in measurement equation´s variables and their corresponding coordinate transformation, a new passive extended Kalman filtering tracking method using bearings-only measurements in J2000 ECI frame is put forward. An explicit definition of the variables and their coordinate transformation in measurement equation are submitted. Moreover, the state propagation stage, state transfer matrix and measurement Jacobi matrix are deducted in detail. Performance is validated through simulated data from STK6.0. Simulation indicates that it is possible to passively track low earth circular orbit satellite (e=0) by a high earth orbit satellite using bearings-only measurements. Furthermore, this method can reach good convergence even when the initial errors are relatively large