GNSS/Star Tracker Integrated Orbit and Attitude Determination System for Garada Mission

Li Qiao, Chris Rizos, Andrew G. Dempster

Abstract:	In late 2010 the Garada project., funded by the Australian Space Research Program, was launched at the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research (ACSER). This collaborative project aims to develop the design, technologies and business case for an Earth observation Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite mission, known as “Garada”. The objectives of the mission include developing the capabilities to acquire images of the Earth day or night and in any weather for multiple applications, including soil moisture measurement, biomass estimation, and flood mapping. The mission concept involves two identical satellites that will orbit at a nominal altitude of 612km in a Sun-synchronous orbit with a 6 day repeat cycle. The two satellites will fly in the same orbital plane half an orbit apart. This configuration is capable of acquiring SAR interferometric data pairs with a 3 day period. Each satellite’s primary payload is an L-band radar sensor with a range of different modes of operation, allowing it to record images with different swath widths, resolutions and polarisations. This paper describes the orbit and attitude determination system that could provide inputs to determining imaging system performance, as well as the methodology and algorithms that could be employed for the orbit and attitude determination system. The preliminary design of the orbit and attitude determination system and the navigation sensors are presented for the Garada mission. Their performance was investigated and has confirmed their compliance with the scientific requirements of Garada.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 25th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2012) September 17 - 21, 2012 Nashville Convention Center, Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, TN
Pages:	685 - 692
Cite this article:	Qiao, Li, Rizos, Chris, Dempster, Andrew G., "GNSS/Star Tracker Integrated Orbit and Attitude Determination System for Garada Mission," Proceedings of the 25th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2012), Nashville, TN, September 2012, pp. 685-692.
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