GPS Tracking of Sounding Rockets and Boosters Recovery: Developments and Mission Results

A. Lissner, N. Kloss, J.M. Fraile Ordoiiez and G. Schmitt

Abstract:	Sounding rockets are vety important tools for micro- gravity and atmospheric research. In Europe, rockets from the TEXUS and MAXUS families have been regularly launched al a rate of about l-3 missions per year since the 70’s. The nest TEXUS mission will take place in November 1996. Kayser-Threde has been involved in every mission performed until now. Until recently, the requirements on the rocket trajec- tory tracking have not been very stringent. For this reason and though it is not very accurate, radar track- ing has been typically employed for this task. How- ever, precise real-time position and velocity inforrna- tion is becoming a necessity. In this respect, GPS of- fers a large number of important advantages with respect to the traditional tracking technology used until now. Kayser-Threde has flown GPS receivers experimen- tally on-board the last two sounding rockets missions (MAXUS and TEXUS rockets launched in November 1995 and February 1996, respectively). The paper will describe the GPS equipment flown in the sounding rockets until now, and it will present the results of the two missions flown until now.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 9th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1996) September 17 - 20, 1996 Kansas City, MO
Pages:	1349 - 1353
Cite this article:	Lissner, A., Kloss, N., Ordoiiez, J.M. Fraile, Schmitt, G., "GPS Tracking of Sounding Rockets and Boosters Recovery: Developments and Mission Results," Proceedings of the 9th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1996), Kansas City, MO, September 1996, pp. 1349-1353.
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