Optimizing Tracking and Acquisition Capabilities for the CanX-2 Nanosatellite's COTS GPS Receiver in Orbit

E. Kahr, K. O'Keefe, S. Skone

Abstract:	CanX-2 is a low earth orbiting nanosatellite, and is carrying a commercial, geodetic grade GPS receiver unmodified for applications in space. The onboard NovAtel OEM4-G2L receiver fills two purposes: orbit determination and radio occultation. Due to the restrictions of operating onboard a nanosatellite the receiver is operated intermittently, and must acquire a position fix quickly each time that it is turned on. Unlike operation on other satellite missions, rapid position fixes are achieved by warm starting the receiver using external scripts, which are generated ahead of time on the ground and transmitted to the satellite. During the first two years of operating the GPS receiver in space significant challenges presented themselves. These have included limitations in available power and memory due to operating on a nanosatellite, a large clock offset induced by the operating conditions in space, an error in the antenna pointing direction, lower than usual signal power levels, and scripting language bugs with unpredictable results. Through modifications to both the experimental setup and the scripts themselves the challenges were systematically overcome in order to collect GPS datasets capable of meeting the orbit determination and radio occultation experiments’ needs.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 23rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2010) September 21 - 24, 2010 Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon Portland, OR
Pages:	2750 - 2760
Cite this article:	Kahr, E., O'Keefe, K., Skone, S., "Optimizing Tracking and Acquisition Capabilities for the CanX-2 Nanosatellite's COTS GPS Receiver in Orbit," Proceedings of the 23rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2010), Portland, OR, September 2010, pp. 2750-2760.
Full Paper:	ION Members/Non-Members: 1 Download Credit Sign In