X-ray pulsar navigation method for spacecraft with pulsar direction error

In order to reduce the impact of the pulsar direction error on the navigation system performance, a novel X-ray pulsar navigation technique is proposed. Through analyzing the system bias caused by the pulsar direction error, it can be seen that the system bias is slowly time-varying. Based on the analysis result, the augmented state unscented Kalman filter (ASUKF), in which the system bias is treated as the augmented state, is designed here to deal with the system bias and estimate spacecraft’s positions and velocities. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed navigation method. The ASUKF-based navigation method for spacecraft is more accurate than the method based on unscented Kalman filter (UKF) in the presence of the pulsar direction error.