Abstract: To response the threats of space debris, the space debris sensing system in orbit is employed to monitor the impact events. A system based on acoustic emission(AE) technique gets great attention, this promotes a demand for pinpoint method for AE source location. AE waveform is non-stationary and random, wavelet transform is not suitable to its analysis. Hilbert Huang Transform(HHT) is utilized to analyze the AE waveform, utilizing an improved algorithm for computing arrive time of A0 mode wave, the linear source location precision is improved. A bivariant function is used to present the planar location problem, and the simplex method is used to solve the problem. Experiments have also been carried out on aluminium alloy sheets using a lead-break AE source. The experimental results indicate that: HHT is more suitable to analyze the AE waveform, the improved liner location method and the planar location method can be used in the isotropy sheets effectively. The result provides a reference for the development of the sensor systems to detect impacts on spacecraft.