Satellite Autonomous Clock Fault Monitoring with Inter-Satellite Ranges Using Euclidean Distance Matrices

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel onboard clock fault detection method for satellite constellations using inter-satellite range measurements and Euclidean distance matrices, enhancing lunar navigation robustness.

Contribution

It presents a fault detection framework that does not require prior satellite position or clock bias knowledge, suitable for diverse lunar satellite networks.

Findings

Effective fault detection demonstrated in GPS and lunar constellation simulations.

Method detects and identifies clock jumps using singular values of GCEDM.

Flexible approach applicable to various satellite configurations.

Abstract

To address the need for robust positioning, navigation, and timing services in lunar environments, this paper proposes a novel onboard clock phase jump detection framework for satellite constellations using range measurements obtained from dual one-way inter-satellite links. Our approach leverages vertex redundantly rigid graphs to detect faults without relying on prior knowledge of satellite positions or clock biases, providing flexibility for lunar satellite networks with diverse satellite types and operators. We model satellite constellations as graphs, where satellites are vertices and inter-satellite links are edges. The proposed algorithm detects and identifies satellites with clock jumps by monitoring the singular values of the geometric-centered Euclidean distance matrix (GCEDM) of 5-clique sub-graphs. The proposed method is validated through simulations of a GPS constellation and a notional constellation around the Moon, demonstrating its effectiveness in various configurations.