Adaptive Orbit-Aided Vector Tracking for Orbit Determination of LEO Satellites

Abstract

Reliable orbit determination for CubeSats is essential for emerging low-Earth-orbit positioning, navigation, and timing (LEO-PNT) applications. However, onboard orbit determination remains constrained by single-frequency GNSS code-based receivers, intermittent signal reception, and highly dynamic orbital conditions. This paper proposes an adaptive orbit-aided vector tracking (OAVT) algorithm for LEO-PNT CubeSat orbit determination under these conditions. The method employs a GNSS vector tracking loop (VTL) as the primary navigation estimator and loosely couples it with a low-fidelity orbital dynamics model (ODM), which provides auxiliary position and velocity pseudo-measurements. The contribution of the ODM is regulated through adaptive covariance assignment based on GNSS stress and the residual consistency between the ODM and GNSS solutions. Under nominal conditions, OAVT preserves the accuracy advantage of VTL over the conventional scalar tracking loop. The 3D position root-mean-square error (RMSE) is reduced from 2.631\,m for STL to 1.081\,m, while the 3D velocity RMSE decreases from 0.3985\,m/s to 0.1023\,m/s. Under degraded conditions, OAVT provides substantially greater robustness than both STL and standalone VTL. The 3D position RMSE remains bounded at 8.27\,m during a complete signal outage, 10.17\,m during gradual signal loss and reacquisition, and 26.65\,m under variable visibility, whereas STL fails to produce valid solutions and standalone VTL loses lock. These results demonstrate that OAVT substantially improves solution robustness and state continuity with only a moderate increase in computational burden, making it suitable for CubeSat orbit determination and future LEO-PNT missions.