StarLoc: Pinpointing Transmitting LEO Satellites from a Single Passive Array

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Janveja, Ishani, Zhang, Jida, Sie, Emerson, Vasisht, Deepak
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Janveja, Ishani
Zhang, Jida
Sie, Emerson
Vasisht, Deepak
author_facet Janveja, Ishani
Zhang, Jida
Sie, Emerson
Vasisht, Deepak
contents This paper focuses on 3D localization of transmitting satellites in low Earth orbits (LEO). 3D localization of transmitters in low orbits is an important emerging problem for many applications such as spectrum management, orbit determination, and backup for GPS failures in orbit. We present StarLoc -- a system to geolocate transmitters in space using a combination of orbital modeling and a new interferometric 3D angle-of-arrival estimation technique. StarLoc's design relies on a unique insight -- the motion of satellites is governed by orbital dynamics and is therefore along a 2D manifold in a 3D space. This reduces the degrees of freedom in satellite motion and allows us to 3D-locate and track a satellite with just three antennas in a 2D plane. We evaluate the system using signal transmissions from 81 Starlink satellites. Our results show that StarLoc can estimate the 3D-angle of a satellite within 0.7 degrees and the orbital range within 5 km. Our dataset and implementation are available at: https://connectedsystemslab.github.io/starloc.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_21147
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle StarLoc: Pinpointing Transmitting LEO Satellites from a Single Passive Array
Janveja, Ishani
Zhang, Jida
Sie, Emerson
Vasisht, Deepak
Networking and Internet Architecture
This paper focuses on 3D localization of transmitting satellites in low Earth orbits (LEO). 3D localization of transmitters in low orbits is an important emerging problem for many applications such as spectrum management, orbit determination, and backup for GPS failures in orbit. We present StarLoc -- a system to geolocate transmitters in space using a combination of orbital modeling and a new interferometric 3D angle-of-arrival estimation technique. StarLoc's design relies on a unique insight -- the motion of satellites is governed by orbital dynamics and is therefore along a 2D manifold in a 3D space. This reduces the degrees of freedom in satellite motion and allows us to 3D-locate and track a satellite with just three antennas in a 2D plane. We evaluate the system using signal transmissions from 81 Starlink satellites. Our results show that StarLoc can estimate the 3D-angle of a satellite within 0.7 degrees and the orbital range within 5 km. Our dataset and implementation are available at: https://connectedsystemslab.github.io/starloc.
title StarLoc: Pinpointing Transmitting LEO Satellites from a Single Passive Array
topic Networking and Internet Architecture
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.21147