5.2 Progress on Pulsar Navigation
281
Since 2005, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) has continued to carry
out studies on the theory and method of XPNAV system and made the breakthroughs
in X-ray detector technology, pulsar database construction method, basic theory
of large-scale navigation and ground test method. Meanwhile, the CAST has also
developed the multiple types of X-ray detector prototypes and products, the ground
test system and the dedicated test satellite, known as XPNAV-1. In November 2016,
the world’s first dedicated pulsar navigation test satellite XPNAV-1 was successfully
launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center of China, to verify the performance of
X-ray detectors and the feasibility of the XPNAV system. Using the observation data
from the XPNAV-1 satellite in the orbit, the improved orbit determination accuracy
initially gets to 38.4 km [22]. The XPNAV-1 satellite and its observation results are
introduced in detail in Sect. 5.8 of this chapter. Afterward, the first X-ray astronomy
of China, known as Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), was launched into
orbit in June 2017, to observe and investigate the high-energy objects such as black
holes, neutron stars and active galactic nucleus through high-precision orientation
in space. The HXMT satellite was manufactured by the CAST, and the Institute of
High-Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Science as the user system was
responsible for developing the payload of the satellite. With the launches of the
XPNAV-1 and HXMT, a large amount of X-ray photons radiated from pulsars are
collected to speed up the development of the XPNAV technology.
In addition, a project of deep-space navigation based on pulsars, known as Project
ARIANDA 03/4202, was released by the ESA in 2004. The ARIANDA is a mechanism for collaborative joint research projects between the ESA’s internal research
think tank, the Advanced Concepts Team and academia, to establish closer link with
the European academic community in advanced space technology research. The
Project ARIANDA 03/4202 was undertaken by a joint research team composed of
two universities from Spain: one is the Department of Signal Theory and Communications at University Politecnica de Catalunya, and another is the Department of
Astronomy and Meteorology at University de Barcelona. The joint research team
carried out the research on theoretical methods and numerical experiments of pulsar
navigation, and finally formed a report, entitled “Feasibility Study for a Spacecraft
Navigation System Relying on Pulsar Timing Information” [23]. In 2009, the Space
Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Science carried out the investigation
into the XPNAV technology. In 2012, an interstellar positioning system for spacecrafts far from the Earth using pulsars was developed by Max Planck Institute for
Extraterrestrial Physics in Munich, Germany. Furthermore, during the past 15 years,
the studies on the XPNAV technology have also been conducted by some researchers
in other countries, such as Britain, India, Japan, Iran and Italy.
281
Since 2005, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) has continued to carry
out studies on the theory and method of XPNAV system and made the breakthroughs
in X-ray detector technology, pulsar database construction method, basic theory
of large-scale navigation and ground test method. Meanwhile, the CAST has also
developed the multiple types of X-ray detector prototypes and products, the ground
test system and the dedicated test satellite, known as XPNAV-1. In November 2016,
the world’s first dedicated pulsar navigation test satellite XPNAV-1 was successfully
launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center of China, to verify the performance of
X-ray detectors and the feasibility of the XPNAV system. Using the observation data
from the XPNAV-1 satellite in the orbit, the improved orbit determination accuracy
initially gets to 38.4 km [22]. The XPNAV-1 satellite and its observation results are
introduced in detail in Sect. 5.8 of this chapter. Afterward, the first X-ray astronomy
of China, known as Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), was launched into
orbit in June 2017, to observe and investigate the high-energy objects such as black
holes, neutron stars and active galactic nucleus through high-precision orientation
in space. The HXMT satellite was manufactured by the CAST, and the Institute of
High-Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Science as the user system was
responsible for developing the payload of the satellite. With the launches of the
XPNAV-1 and HXMT, a large amount of X-ray photons radiated from pulsars are
collected to speed up the development of the XPNAV technology.
In addition, a project of deep-space navigation based on pulsars, known as Project
ARIANDA 03/4202, was released by the ESA in 2004. The ARIANDA is a mechanism for collaborative joint research projects between the ESA’s internal research
think tank, the Advanced Concepts Team and academia, to establish closer link with
the European academic community in advanced space technology research. The
Project ARIANDA 03/4202 was undertaken by a joint research team composed of
two universities from Spain: one is the Department of Signal Theory and Communications at University Politecnica de Catalunya, and another is the Department of
Astronomy and Meteorology at University de Barcelona. The joint research team
carried out the research on theoretical methods and numerical experiments of pulsar
navigation, and finally formed a report, entitled “Feasibility Study for a Spacecraft
Navigation System Relying on Pulsar Timing Information” [23]. In 2009, the Space
Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Science carried out the investigation
into the XPNAV technology. In 2012, an interstellar positioning system for spacecrafts far from the Earth using pulsars was developed by Max Planck Institute for
Extraterrestrial Physics in Munich, Germany. Furthermore, during the past 15 years,
the studies on the XPNAV technology have also been conducted by some researchers
in other countries, such as Britain, India, Japan, Iran and Italy.