Optically-Aided, Non-Global Positioning System (GPS) for Aircraft Navigation Over Water

Polaris proposes a hybrid system, combining a Sky Polarization Azimuth Sensing System (SkyPASS) Gen3 heading sensor and a Celestial Positioning System (CPS) into a SkyPASS Gen3 Positioning System (SkyPASS-GPS). The SkyPASS-GPS system will utilize multiple celestial technologies (including Sun tracking, star tracking, and sky polarization mapping) combined with novel algorithms to provide heading accuracies of 0.05 degrees and position accuracies to within 10’s of meters. The resulting system will be 24-hour capable, can operate in various cloud conditions, is driftless, is not affected by magnetic disturbances, is not able to be denied or spoofed, is passive (and thus non-detectable), and can operate anywhere on Earth (including at high altitudes and near the North and South poles). The SWaP and cost of such a system would allow for integration on a variety of platforms, including small UAVs. This novel approach would enable GPS-denied navigation over water (or other featureless terrain) to high accuracy, potentially achieving GPS-level accuracy.