High Accuracy Differential and Kinematic Gps Positioning Using a Digital Beam-steering Receiver

Proceedings of 2002 Core Technologies for Space Systems Conference, Colorado Springs, CO, November 2002 ABSTRACT The time, orbit and attitude data, obtained from GPS, enables spacecraft system developers to accomplish autonomous orbit maneuver planning and autonomous stationkeeping maneuvers on-board the spacecraft. Current generation GPS navigation will provide accuracy on the order of 2 to 5 meters. For future missions, which will involve formation flying of clusters of small satellites, more precise relative positioning accuracy is required. This can be achieved through the use of differential GPS (DGPS) and kinematic GPS (KGPS) relative positioning techniques. These techniques remove the effect of common GPS system errors between the cluster of satellites, leaving only the effect of receiver measurement errors on the precise positioning solution.