Performance Assessment in Real-Time for a Range Safety GPS Translator Tracking System

Robert N. Crane

Abstract:	GPS Translator Tracking Systems (GPS-TTS) are finding increasing usage as primary vehicle tracking systems for range safety. The GPS-TTS is less costly than C-band radar systems and provides more flexibility in the selection of test sites. For the range safety application, GPS satellite signals are received at the vehicle, translated to S-band, and retransmitted to a ground station. The ground station processes the signals and estimates the vehicle’s position and velocity. This information is used to evaluate the vehicle’s performance relative to maintaining a safe flight over the range. Knowledge of the accuracy of the estimated vehicle trajectory is an important factor in the. range safety decision process. This paper describes a software package, Performance Assessment in Real-Time (PAR), which calculates a real-time bound for the GPS Translator Tracking System state vector position and velocity estimation accuracy. PAR has been installed on a GPS Translator Tracking System and is presently operational. This paper presents results from several range safety tracking operations.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 4th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1991) September 11 - 13, 1991 Albuquerque, NM
Pages:	609 - 618
Cite this article:	Crane, Robert N., "Performance Assessment in Real-Time for a Range Safety GPS Translator Tracking System," Proceedings of the 4th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS 1991), Albuquerque, NM, September 1991, pp. 609-618.
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