Tracking the Relative Motion of Four Space Payloads Launched from a Sub-Orbital NASA Rocket

Hugh Martell, Barton Bull

Abstract:	One problem, which is comparatively new in the field of GPS applications, is the determination of the relative trajectories of space vehicles. Applications include the docking of spacecraft, collision avoidance in the area of space stations, and trajectory reconstruction of multiple payloads. The required precision in any of these applications will vary, according to the requirements of the task and abilities of GPS to cope with the environment and the dynamics. This paper describes the post-mission reconstruction of the relative trajectories of four GPS receivers attached to four payloads jettisoned from a rocket in a sub-orbital NASA science mission. It is shown that relative payload to payload coordinate accuracies at the sub-decimetre level were achieved with single frequency GPS receivers.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1999) September 14 - 17, 1999 Nashville, TN
Pages:	429 - 434
Cite this article:	Martell, Hugh, Bull, Barton, "Tracking the Relative Motion of Four Space Payloads Launched from a Sub-Orbital NASA Rocket," Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1999), Nashville, TN, September 1999, pp. 429-434.
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