NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
A Study into the Method of Precise Orbit Determination of a HEO Orbiter by GPS and AccelerometerIn the present day, orbit determination by Global Positioning System (GPS) is not unusual. Especially for low-cost small satellites, position determination by an on-board GPS receiver provides a cheap, reliable and precise method. However, the original purpose of GPS is for ground users, so the transmissions from all of the GPS satellites are directed toward the Earth s surface. Hence there are some restrictions for users above the GPS constellation to detect those signals. On the other hand, a desire for precise orbit determination for users in orbits higher than GPS constellation exists. For example, the next Japanese Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) mission "ASTRO-G" is trying to determine its orbit in an accuracy of a few centimeters at apogee. The use of GPS is essential for such ultra accurate orbit determination. This study aims to construct a method for precise orbit determination for such high orbit users, especially in High Elliptical Orbits (HEOs). There are several approaches for this objective. In this study, a hybrid method with GPS and an accelerometer is chosen. Basically, while the position cannot be determined by an on-board GPS receiver or other Range and Range Rate (RARR) method, all we can do to estimate the user satellite s position is to propagate the orbit along with the force model, which is not perfectly correct. However if it has an accelerometer (ACC), the coefficients of the air drag and the solar radiation pressure applied to the user satellite can be updated and then the propagation along with the "updated" force model can improve the fitting accuracy of the user satellite s orbit. In this study, it is assumed to use an accelerometer available in the present market. The effects by a bias error of an accelerometer will also be discussed in this paper.
Document ID
20080012672
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Ikenaga, Toshinori
(Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Japan)
Hashida, Yoshi
(Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. Guildford, United Kingdom)
Unwin, Martin
(Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. Guildford, United Kingdom)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
September 24, 2007
Publication Information
Publication: Proceedings of the 20th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
No Preview Available