# Autonomous Angles-Only Multi-Target Tracking for Spacecraft Swarms

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.08881 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.08881/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 18 Feb 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Bridging the Domain Gap for Flight-Ready Spaceborne Vision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.11661/) (2024)
- [Digital and Robotic Twinning for Validation of Proximity Operations and Formation Flying](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.20034/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper presents a new algorithm for autonomous multitarget tracking of resident space objects using optical angles-only measurements from a spaceborne observer. To enable autonomous angles-only navigation of spacecraft swarms, an observer must be able to identify and track multiple known or unknown target space objects in view, without reliance on a-priori relative orbit knowledge. Extremely high assignment precision is necessary with low measurement frequencies and limited computational resources. The new "Spacecraft Angles-only MUltitarget tracking System" (SAMUS) algorithm has been developed to meet these objectives and constraints. It combines domain-specific modeling of target kinematics with multi-hypothesis techniques to autonomously track multiple unknown targets using only sequential camera images. A measurement transform ensures that target motion in the observer reference frame follows consistent parametric models; curve fitting is used to predict track behavior; and kinematically-derived track gating and scoring criteria are applied to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the multi-hypothesis approach. Monte-Carlo testing with high-fidelity simulations demonstrates close to 100% measurement assignment precision and strong recall across a range of multi-spacecraft formations, in both near-circular and eccentric orbits. Tracking is maintained in the presence of eclipse periods, significant measurement noise, and partially known swarm maneuvers. A comparison to other tracking algorithms reveals strong advantages in precision, robustness and computation time, crucial for spaceborne angles-only navigation.