On the Possibility of Improving the Orbits of Satellites Based on Observations of Isolated X-ray Pulsars

TL;DR

This paper explores using X-ray pulsar observations, specifically from the RXTE observatory, to determine spacecraft positions with hundreds of meters accuracy, enhancing deep-space navigation techniques.

Contribution

It demonstrates the feasibility of spacecraft navigation using existing X-ray pulsar data and proposes improvements in accuracy with broader energy ranges and larger detectors.

Findings

Position accuracy of ~730 m with current data

Extended energy range improves accuracy to 400-450 m

Larger detectors (~1 sq.m) further enhance precision

Abstract

At present, there is a great worldwide interest in the development of technologies that allow information about the X-ray emission from pulsating cosmic sources to be used to obtain navigation solutions for deep-space spacecraft. In this paper, we illustrate the technique for determining the spatial position of a spacecraft based on the already existing data from the RXTE X-ray space observatory. We show that the spacecraft position toward the Crab pulsar can be determined using an X-ray detector with an effective area of about 0.6 sq.m in the energy range 3-15 keV with an accuracy up to 730 m in a signal integration time of 1000 s. Extending the energy range to 1 keV (the efficiency of the RXTE/PCA spectrometer decreases dramatically at energies below 3 keV) will allow a spacecraft position accuracy of 400-450 m to be achieved at the same effective area and up to 300-350 m when using detectors with an effective area of ~1 sq.m in the energy range 1-10 keV.