Satellite Orbit Determination by Integrating Orbital Dynamics and Genetic Algorithm Based on Ground Track Points: A Passive and Independent Approach

Kosari, Amirreza; Abolpour, Bahador

doi:10.22034/stme.2026.572834.1200

Satellite Orbit Determination by Integrating Orbital Dynamics and Genetic Algorithm Based on Ground Track Points: A Passive and Independent Approach

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Amirreza Kosari ¹

bahador Abolpour ²

¹ School of Aerospace Engineering, University of Tehran

² Aerospace Department, Kish International Campus, University of Tehran

10.22034/stme.2026.572834.1200

Abstract

In an era marked by increasing space object congestion and the challenge of tracking uncooperative or passive satellites, the development of independent and cost-effective orbit determination methods is essential. This paper presents a novel and operational methodology that integrates classical orbital dynamics with a genetic optimization algorithm to extract the six classical orbital parameters of a satellite using only the geographical coordinates of a limited number of its ground track points. The proposed method is entirely passive, eliminating reliance on active navigation systems like GPS or external databases such as TLE (Two-Line Element) sets. Implementation in MATLAB and evaluation on two simulated scenarios (a standard orbit and a polar orbit) demonstrated that with only ten observational points, the average relative error of the orbital parameters was reduced to less than 0.7% for the standard orbit and approximately 1% for the polar orbit. The results indicate the high capability of the genetic algorithm in converging to the optimal solution and its robustness against outlier data. This method serves as an efficient complementary solution for space situational awareness, identification of unknown satellites, and tracking of large space debris.

Keywords

Satellite Tracking

Orbit Determination

Genetic Algorithm

Orbital Dynamics

Satellite

Subjects