Pulsar Navigation in the Solar System

TL;DR

This paper explores pulsar-based navigation for spacecraft within the solar system, demonstrating its potential for autonomous, continuous positioning with current technology, reducing reliance on traditional GNSS systems.

Contribution

It analyzes the sensitivity of radio pulsar navigation instruments and discusses integrated navigation systems for various platforms, proposing feasible mission designs using pulsar signals.

Findings

Stable navigation with a 2-meter antenna observing strong pulsars in 36 minutes.

Pulsar navigation enables autonomous deep-space positioning.

Potential to reduce dependence on GNSS systems in space missions.

Abstract

The X-ray Navigation and Autonomous position Verification (XNAV) is tested which use the Crab pulsar under the Space Test Program that use starlight refraction. It provide the way that the spacecraft could autonomously determine its position with respect to an inertial origin. Now we analysis the sensitivity of the exist instrument and the signal process that use radio pulsar navigation and discuss the integrated navigation which use radio pulsar, then give the different navigation mission analysis and design process basically which include the space, the airborne, the ship and the land of the planet or the lunar. Our analysis show that we will have the stability profile (signal-to-noise is 5) that use a 2 meters antenna observe some strong sources of radio pulsar in 36 minutes which based on the today's technology. So the pulsar navigation can give the continuous position in deep space, hat means we can freedom fly successfully in the solar system use celestial navigation that include pulsar and traditional star sensor. It also can less or abolish the dependence to Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) which include GPS, GRONSS, Galileo and BeiDou et al.