GPS Based Attitude Determination for Spinning Satellites

Abstract

This report describes the research performed by the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research (CCAR) under an AASERT Grant to study Global Positioning System (GPS) based attitude determination for spinning satellite. Two key contributions are discussed- phase-based methods for estimation of the spin axis of a spinning satellite. and signal noise ratio (SNR) based methods for estimation of one or more spacecraft axes. The latter method, which is very robust and widely applicable, is demonstrated on actual flight data from three NASA missions. It provides instantaneous pointing knowledge at the 310 degree level with a single GPS antenna and is useful for attitude initialization, verification, GPS phase ambiguity resolution, and a reliable backup attitude determination sensor.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 10, 1997
Accession Number
ADA334738

Entities

People

  • Charles P. Behre
  • Penina Axeirad

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Air Force
  • Angular Momentum
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Astronautics
  • Computational Science
  • Computer Simulations
  • Earth Orbits
  • Global Positioning Systems
  • Information Science
  • Jet Propulsion
  • Low Earth Orbits
  • Measurement
  • Navigation
  • Spacecraft
  • Three Dimensional
  • United States

Readers

  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Technology.
  • Technical Research and Report Writing.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Spacecraft Maneuvers