{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,26]],"date-time":"2026-09-26T21:06:49Z","timestamp":1790456809654,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,30]],"date-time":"2025-06-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1751241600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["11902238"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["11902238"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2020M673373"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020M673373"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002858","name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["11902238"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["11902238"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002858","name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2020M673373"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020M673373"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Orbit determination for non-cooperative low Earth orbit (LEO) objects undergoing continuous low-thrust maneuvers remains a significant challenge, particularly for large satellite constellations like Starlink. This paper presents a method that integrates the unscented transformation into a batch filtering framework with an optimized rho-minimum sigma points sampling strategy. The proposed approach uses a reduced dynamics model that considers Earth\u2019s non-spherical gravity and models the combined effects of low-thrust and atmospheric drag as an equivalent along-track acceleration. Numerical simulations under different measurement noise levels, initial state uncertainties, and across multiple satellites confirm the method\u2019s reliable convergence and favorable accuracy, even in the absence of prior knowledge of the along-track acceleration. The method consistently converges within 10 iterations and achieves 24 h position predictions with root mean square errors of less than 3 km under realistic noise conditions. Additional validation using a higher-fidelity model that explicitly accounts for atmospheric drag demonstrates improved accuracy and robustness. The proposed method can provide accurate orbit knowledge for space situational awareness associated with continuously maneuvering Starlink satellites.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s25134079","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,30]],"date-time":"2025-06-30T12:10:31Z","timestamp":1751285431000},"page":"4079","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Orbit Determination for Continuously Maneuvering Starlink Satellites Based on an Unscented Batch Filtering Method"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-7826-9325","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anqi","family":"Lang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, School of Aerospace Engineering, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an 710049, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8377-3591","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yu","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Space-System Operation and Control, Xi\u2019an Satellite Control Center, Xi\u2019an 710049, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"30-1","article-title":"Study on Orbit Prediction Error of Space Objects Based on Historical TLE","volume":"60","author":"Xu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Acta Astron. 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