Navigation and Positioning with Multi-Constellation LEO Satellite Collaboration Signals

A navigation framework is proposed for differential positioning measurements using multi-constellation low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite signals. Based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF), the measurement matrix and covariance of cooperative measurements from multiple constellations were derived. In order to efficiently and accurately characterize the performance of the LEO multi-constellation satellite cooperative navigation framework, descriptions were provided for the dilution of precision(DOP) in cooperative positioning coefficients. The effectiveness of the algorithm is validated by referencing the orbital parameters of the Starlink satellite constellation and testing across three low Earth orbit constellations. Simulation results demonstrate that within a 300-s unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) flight time, a drone utilizing collaborative measurements from LEO satellite constellations can achieve 3-D positioning performance at the 10-m level, with optimal positioning performance converging within 1.5 m. Additionally, due to the high dynamic characteristics of LEO satellites, the rapid changes in satellite geometric distribution result in a sudden deterioration of single-constellation satellite positioning accuracy. Compared to single-constellation measurements, this approach exhibits higher stability, leading to an improved positioning accuracy ranging from 15% to 25%.