Consensus Protocol-Based Autonomous Configuration Estimation for Hyperscale Distributed Spacecraft Systems

This article is concerned with a problem of autonomous configuration estimation for hyperscale distributed spacecraft systems in the case GNSS signals are not available or reliable. A decentralized control input estimation method based on the consensus protocol is proposed to reduce the uncertainty introduced by constellation configuration adjustment. According to Bayesian theory, we derive the double convolution of multivariate Gaussian distributions to fuse the results of autonomous input estimation. Combined with the covariance synchronization update technology, the design of an autonomous configuration estimation algorithm for hyperscale distributed spacecraft systems is implemented. Finally, the proposed algorithm is verified in a high-orbiting gravitational wave detector constellation with inter-satellite laser interferometers.