Satellite Navigation Constellation Optimisation Problem Definition for the Application of Genetic Algorithms

Paula Piñeiro Ramos, Sebastian Bernhardt, Helena Stegherr, Jörg Hähner

2025

Abstract

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are used on a daily basis, providing Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services for various applications ranging from smartphones over the financial sector up to areas such as aviation and space. Classical GNSS constellations positioned in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) often experience reduced performance in areas of low visibility like forests and cities. To rectify this, augmentation constellations are deployed, improving the provided positioning accuracy. Recent proposals for augmentation systems have often been based in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which, for global coverage, require a large number of satellites and are complex to design due to dependencies, coverage requirements and the large search space. This makes the constellation design problem well-suited for applying Genetic Algorithms (GA) to find an optimal solution. However, previous research has only addressed highly constrained versions of the problem. This paper presents an approach for applying GAs to constellation designs with a large search space. In particular, the focus is on the description of the multi-objective fitness function and the simulation necessary for its evaluation, options for the solution encoding, and a discussion of algorithmic features applicable in this scenario.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Ramos P., Bernhardt S., Stegherr H. and Hähner J. (2025). Satellite Navigation Constellation Optimisation Problem Definition for the Application of Genetic Algorithms. In Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO; ISBN 978-989-758-770-2, SciTePress, pages 329-339. DOI: 10.5220/0013782000003982

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icinco25,
author={Paula Ramos and Sebastian Bernhardt and Helena Stegherr and Jörg Hähner},
title={Satellite Navigation Constellation Optimisation Problem Definition for the Application of Genetic Algorithms},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO},
year={2025},
pages={329-339},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013782000003982},
isbn={978-989-758-770-2},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO
TI - Satellite Navigation Constellation Optimisation Problem Definition for the Application of Genetic Algorithms
SN - 978-989-758-770-2
AU - Ramos P.
AU - Bernhardt S.
AU - Stegherr H.
AU - Hähner J.
PY - 2025
SP - 329
EP - 339
DO - 10.5220/0013782000003982
PB - SciTePress