A Simple and Effective Instantaneous Method for Initial Spacecraft Attitude Estimation Using GPS Phase Difference Measurements only

R. Sánchez-Maestro, S. de Miguel-Sanz

Abstract:	In this paper, a simple method to calculate an initial spacecraft attitude using GPS phase difference measurements at a single instant is presented. Generally, before the attitude can be computed, the integer ambiguity must be resolved first. This method, however, does not explicitly compute the most probable integer combination. It consists of directly converting a set of line of sight vectors and an arbitrary combination of integers into a baseline vector which is expressed in the same reference frame as that of the lines of sight. A systematic search within the integer domain is performed in order to obtain a set of baseline vectors which are most likely to be correct. Special criteria are introduced in order to identify the correct baseline. One of the advantages of this method is that the baselines are estimated separately so there are no restrictions in terms of baseline configurations. According to simulation results, this method has shown to be effective and reliable.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 59th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation and CIGTF 22nd Guidance Test Symposium (2003) June 23 - 25, 2003 Hyatt Regency Hotel Albuquerque, NM
Pages:	379 - 386
Cite this article:	Sánchez-Maestro, R., de Miguel-Sanz, S., "A Simple and Effective Instantaneous Method for Initial Spacecraft Attitude Estimation Using GPS Phase Difference Measurements only," Proceedings of the 59th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation and CIGTF 22nd Guidance Test Symposium (2003), Albuquerque, NM, June 2003, pp. 379-386.
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