Instantaneous Attitude Determination of a LEO Satellite by GPS Using Direct Orthogonalisation

H. Urhan, M.S. Hodgart, S. Gleason, M.J. Unwin

Abstract:	This paper presents the results of a method for standalone attitude determination of a LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite using GPS (Global Positioning System) L1 signal phase measurements. It resolves the integer ambiguities and determines the instantaneous attitude at each epoch, using phase differences from 4 GPS satellites obtained from 3 or more antennas (2 or more baselines). It does not require any initialisation or independent attitude information from the other sensors. The algorithm has been tested with the data obtained from a ground based test set-up comprising 3 GPS antennas and an SGR-20 GPS receiver. The effects of the multipath and other error sources have been assessed, and the results of the algorithm are presented.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS/GNSS 2003) September 9 - 12, 2003 Oregon Convention Center Portland, OR
Pages:	2705 - 2711
Cite this article:	Urhan, H., Hodgart, M.S., Gleason, S., Unwin, M.J., "Instantaneous Attitude Determination of a LEO Satellite by GPS Using Direct Orthogonalisation," Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS/GNSS 2003), Portland, OR, September 2003, pp. 2705-2711.
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