A Combined Relative Navigation and Single Antenna Attitude Determination Sensor on the FASTRAC Student-Built Nanosatellite Mission

J. Greenbaum, S. Stewart, G. Holt, E. Rogstad, R. Zwerneman, T. Campbell IV, E. G. Lightsey

Abstract:	A low-cost, combined relative navigation and single- antenna coarse attitude determination sensor has been developed for use in small satellites. The sensor will be demonstrated in space on the FASTRAC mission which consists of two satellites equipped with identical navigation sensors. Onboard, real-time, meter-level, relative navigation will be accomplished between the two satellites via a UHF/VHF crosslink data exchange as the satellites drift apart following inter-satellite separation. Simultaneously, real-time attitude solutions will be generated by the same credit card-sized receivers using algorithms developed at the University of Texas that combine 3-axis magnetometer data with GPS signal-to- noise ratio observations. This paper provides an overview of the algorithms used by the FASTRAC navigation sensor and a description of the as-built navigation subsystem. The fabrication and integration experience is given along with a description of hardware-in-the-loop testing that was used to qualify the subsystems. The concept of operations for the navigation experiments and related simulation results are also presented.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2008 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 28 - 30, 2008 The Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, CA
Pages:	204 - 216
Cite this article:	Greenbaum, J., Stewart, S., Holt, G., Rogstad, E., Zwerneman, R., Campbell, T., IV, Lightsey, E. G., "A Combined Relative Navigation and Single Antenna Attitude Determination Sensor on the FASTRAC Student-Built Nanosatellite Mission," Proceedings of the 2008 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Diego, CA, January 2008, pp. 204-216.
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