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PurposeAn onboard autonomous technique can significantly reduce the costs of the mission. The purpose of this paper is to deal with the autonomous orbit determination and attitude determination of a satellite based on the sun, the earth and the moon sensors.Design/methodology/approachThe models of the conical earth scanner are presented, and its measurement with information from the sun and the moon sensors is processed to simultaneously acquire the orbit and attitude of the satellite via extended Kalman filter.FindingsThe numerical simulation shows that the presented method can obtain the orbit and attitude information precisely; even in the new moon period, it can be used to get the satisfied results.Originality/valueAutonomous orbit determination and attitude determination based on direction information of celestial objects, such as sun, earth and moon, are put forward. The method improves the survival ability of the satellite and decreases its reliance on the ground stations.

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