A real-time algorithm for tracking angle of spacecraft relay antenna

Aiming at the problem that the traditional STK simulation algorithm for tracking angle of relay antenna cannot be used in real-time testing processing for spacecraft AIT, a real-time algorithm for tracking angle of relay antenna is proposed and implemented in software. In the paper, the orbit of spacecraft, antenna beam and coordinate system are used to establish the equivalent model of the direction angle for relay antenna. As the spacecraft flight attitude and real-time telemetry were combined, the tracking angle algorithm, real-time test result verification and closed-loop control strategy for relay antenna are realized. The experimental results showed that this method achieved real-time comparison of relay antenna angle tracking during the AIT process. A real-time prediction of TTC coverage under various flight attitude on orbit was realized and the maximum TTC coverage of a single arc can be increased by 13.3%. The algorithm described in the article has been applied to a certain type of spacecraft sub-system test and in orbit flight missions.