US 12,298,137 B2
Celestial navigation object availability using light source enabled satellites
Trevor Keith Stephens, Maple Grove, MN (US); Brian Schipper, Maple Grove, MN (US); and Ross Merritt, Minneapolis, MN (US)
Assigned to Honeywell International Inc., Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed by Honeywell International Inc., Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed on Apr. 4, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/295,746.
Prior Publication US 2024/0337494 A1, Oct. 10, 2024
Int. Cl. G06V 20/56 (2022.01); G01C 21/02 (2006.01)
CPC G01C 21/025 (2013.01) [G06V 20/56 (2022.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for celestial navigation, the method comprising:
requesting access to a light source on a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite;
sending an uplink message to the LEO satellite to power on the light source, in response to the access request;
determining whether the LEO satellite is in view of a camera;
capturing a light image, from the light source, on a focal plane location of the camera when the LEO satellite is in view of the camera;
comparing the focal plane location to a predicted location of the LEO satellite; and
updating position information of a user based on an observation error from comparing the focal plane location to the predicted location.