Validation of GNSS Multipath Model for Space Proximity Operations Using the Hubble Servicing Mission 4 Experiment

B. W. Ashman, J.L. Veldman, P. Axelrad, J.L. Garrison, L.B. Winternitz

Abstract:	In the rendezvous and docking of spacecraft, GNSS signals can reflect off the target vehicle and cause large errors in the chaser vehicle receiver at ranges below a few hundred meters. It has been proposed that these additional ray paths, or multipath, be used as a source of information about the state of the target relative to the receiver. With Hubble Servicing Mission 4 as a case study, electromagnetic ray tracing has been used to construct a model of reflected signals from known geometry. Oscillations in the prompt correlator power due to multipath, known as multipath fading, are studied as a means of model validation. Agreement between the measured and simulated multipath fading serves to confirm the presence of signals reflected off the target spacecraft that might be used for relative navigation.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 29th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2016) September 12 - 16, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon
Pages:	3635 - 3643
Cite this article:	Ashman, B. W., Veldman, J.L., Axelrad, P., Garrison, J.L., Winternitz, L.B., "Validation of GNSS Multipath Model for Space Proximity Operations Using the Hubble Servicing Mission 4 Experiment," Proceedings of the 29th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2016), Portland, Oregon, September 2016, pp. 3635-3643. https://doi.org/10.33012/2016.14710
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