New High-Altitude GPS Navigation Results from the Magnetospheric Multiscale Spacecraft and Simulations at Lunar Distances

Luke B. Winternitz, William A. Bamford, Samuel R. Price

Abstract:	As reported in a companion work [13], in its first phase, NASA’s 2015 highly elliptic MMS mission set a record for the highest altitude operational use of on-board GPS-based navigation, returning state estimates at 12 Earth radii. In early 2017 MMS transitioned to its second phase which doubled the apogee distance to 25 Earth radii, approaching halfway to the Moon. This paper will present results for GPS observability and navigation performance achieved in MMS Phase 2. Additionally, it will provide simulation results predicting the performance of the MMS navigation system applied to a pair of concept missions at Lunar distances. These studies will demonstrate how high-sensitivity GPS (or GNSS) receivers paired with onboard navigation software, as in MMS-Navigation system, can extend the envelope of autonomous onboard GPS navigation far from the Earth.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 30th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2017) September 25 - 29, 2017 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon
Pages:	1114 - 1126
Cite this article:	Winternitz, Luke B., Bamford, William A., Price, Samuel R., "New High-Altitude GPS Navigation Results from the Magnetospheric Multiscale Spacecraft and Simulations at Lunar Distances," Proceedings of the 30th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2017), Portland, Oregon, September 2017, pp. 1114-1126. https://doi.org/10.33012/2017.15367
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