Abstract: An error compensation algorithm based on distance ranging is proposed for a class of autonomous navigation problems of spacecraft formation. It uses a high precision relative measuring method with less position data. The error compensation algorithm is given to prevent the local instability of traditional EKF method. A consensus distributed EKF algorithm is also given in this paper, which combines consensus theory and distributed kalman filter. The system is regarded as a network. A simulation result proves that this algorithm can prevent high frequency noise and has a high accuracy.

Key words: spacecraft formation, autonomous navigation, consensus, Kalman filter, error compensation