Onboard Batch Filter for GPS Orbit Determination

P.L. Palmer, Y. Hashida, N.M Gomes, M.J. Unwin

Abstract:	For reliable orbital estimation, batch filters outperform re-cursive filters. Unlike recursive estimators, however, batch filters are commonly believed to be too computationally heavy for the onboard processing environment. In this paper, we describe an in-flight system that processes GPS signals in a batch filter and provides accurate orbital in-formation to high precision. The system has been tested on the two Surrey satellites PoSat-1 and UoSat-12. The first is a 50 kg microsatellite carrying a Trimble TANS GPS receiver. It was launched in 1993 into a near polar sun-synchronous orbit. The other is a 300kg minisatel-lite with a GPS receiver designed and built in-house. The processing is performed on an Intel 386 processor. The UoSat-12 satellite was launched in April 1999 into 64.5 degrees inclined orbit.
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:	907 - 914
Cite this article:	Palmer, P.L., Hashida, Y., Gomes, N.M, Unwin, M.J., "Onboard Batch Filter for GPS Orbit Determination," Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1999), Nashville, TN, September 1999, pp. 907-914.
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