Absolute navigation for Mars final approach using relative measurements of X-ray pulsars and Mars orbiter

To achieve a precise Mars landing, the autonomous navigation performance of Mars final approach phase need to be further improved. In this paper, an absolute navigation scheme for Mars finial approach phase using relative measurements of X-ray pulsars and Mars orbiter is proposed. By introducing the difference of time of arrival (DTOA) measurement, the states of approach spacecraft and orbiter are estimated at the same time. Compared to the navigation scheme based on the absolute measurements of pulsars, the error sources such as planetary ephemeris error, pulsar parameter uncertainties, and radio beacon position deviations, are correspondingly reduced or eliminated. Through observability analysis, the method of absolute navigation using relative information is proved observable under the condition of reasonable pulsars selection. The design optimization of beacon configuration based on the Fisher Information Matrix (FIM) is also carried out for achieving a better observability. Two navigation schemes respectively based on the absolute/relative measurements of X-ray pulsars are compared by numerical simulations, and the navigation performance is assessed and the feasibility of the proposed scheme is verified.