{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T17:51:51Z","timestamp":1791913911519,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,27]],"date-time":"2025-05-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748304000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The context of this study is the geolocation of signal emitters on the Earth\u2019s surface through satellite platforms able to perform Angle of Arrival (AOA) measurements. This paper provides the theoretical framework to solve the optimization problem for the orbital deployment of the satellites minimizing the variance on the position error estimation with constraints on the line of sight (LOS). The problem is theoretically formulated for an arbitrary number of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and target pointing attitude, focusing on minimizing the Position Dilution of Precision (PDOP) metric, providing a methodology for translating mission design requirements into problem formulation. An exemplary numerical application is presented for the operative case of the placement of a second satellite after a first one is launched. Simulation results are on angles of true anomaly, right ascension of the ascending node, and spacing angle, while accounting for orbital radius and emitter latitude. New insights on trends, parameter dependencies, and properties of symmetry and anti-symmetry are presented. The topic is of interest for new technological demonstrators based on CubeSats with AOA payload. Civil applications of interest are on interceptions of non-cooperative signals in activities of spectrum monitoring or search and rescue.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s25113376","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,27]],"date-time":"2025-05-27T11:12:57Z","timestamp":1748344377000},"page":"3376","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Satellite Constellation Optimization for Emitter Geolocalization Missions Based on Angle of Arrival Techniques"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-1272-8558","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marcello","family":"Asciolla","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6471-4147","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rodrigo","family":"Bl\u00e1zquez-Garc\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Information Processing and Telecommunications Center (IPTC), Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Madrid, Av. Complutense 30, 28040 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-0605-1411","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angela","family":"Cratere","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0802-4464","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vittorio M. N.","family":"Passaro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9874-5008","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesco","family":"Dell\u2019Olio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Poisel, R.A. (2012). Electronic Warfare Target Location Methods, Artech House. [2nd ed.]. Chapters 2.2 and 3."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Poisel, R.A. (2008). Introduction to Communication Electronic Warfare Systems, Artech House. [2nd ed.]. Chapter 8.2.6."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"De Martino, A. (2018). 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