The GPS Space Service Volume

Prior to the advent of artificial satellites, the concept of navigating in space and the desire to understand and validate the laws of planetary and satellite motion dates back centuries. At the initiation of orbital flight in 1957, space navigation was dominated by inertial and groundbased tracking methods, underpinned by the laws of planetary motion. It was early in the 1980s that GPS was first explored as a system useful for refining the position, velocity, and timing (PVT) of other spacecraft equipped with GPS receivers. As a result, an entirely new GPS utility was developed beyond its original purpose of providing PVT services for land, maritime, and air applications. Spacecraft both above and below the GPS constellation now receive the GPS signals, including the signals that spill over the limb of the Earth. The use of radionavigation satellite services for space navigation in High Earth Orbits is in fact a capability unique to GPS. Support to GPS space applications is being studied and planned as an important improvement to GPS. This paper discusses the formalization of PVT services in space as part of an overall GPS improvement effort. It describes the GPS Space Service Volume (SSV) and compares it to the Terrestrial Service Volume (TSV). It also discusses SSV coverage with the current GPS constellation, coverage characteristics as a function of altitude, expected power levels, and coverage figures of merit.