Flight Demonstration of Two and Three Satellite Navigation

Ronald B. Dayton, John T. Nielson, Richard F. Nolting

Abstract:	While some applications using GPS navigation have the luxury of waiting for the complete constellation, there are many efforts that require the use of GPS now for extended periods of time and at locations which presently have poor satellite coverage. Since the tragic space shuttle accident, there has been renewed interest in the development of two and three satellite navigation systems. The Boeing Company recently completed the flight test of a time/altitude aided GPS system. Rockwell Collins was contracted to modify two Phase II, 2-channel GPS receivers to use time aiding from a cesium beam reference and accurate altitude aiding from a radar altimeter to allow operation with as few as two satellites. Using these receivers, a navigation system was developed which also utilizes inertial and bare aiding. Integration of this data is performed in a MIL-STD-1750A Computer. Flight tests of this navigation system were recently conducted using a Beechcraft D-18 twin engine aircraft in the Seattle area and at Yuma Proving Grounds. Impressive accuracies were obtained throughout the tests while using two, three and four satellites. This represents the first known flight data at Yuma using only two satellites.
Published in:	Proceedings of the International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1988) September 19 - 23, 1988 The Broadmoor Hotel Colorado Spring, CO
Pages:	259 - 266
Cite this article:	Dayton, Ronald B., Nielson, John T., Nolting, Richard F., "Flight Demonstration of Two and Three Satellite Navigation," Proceedings of the International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1988), Colorado Spring, CO, September 1988, pp. 259-266.
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