Error-State Kalman Filter for Autonomous Celestial-Based Navigation

Modern aviation often relies on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) for positioning accuracy. However, today's electronic warfare technology presents an integrity risk for such systems. Therefore, it is increasingly desirable for aircraft not to depend exclusively on GNSS. Celestial navigation, on the other hand, is a promising alternative due to its resistance to electromagnetic interference. This paper describes a new way to solve the aircraft positioning problem through an errorstate Kalman filter (ESKF) for autonomous astronomical-based navigation by adapting an observation model developed for planetary rovers to the context of aviation. Its efficiency to reduce inertial navigation system errors is demonstrated through Monte Carlo simulations of randomly generated aircraft trajectories.