REAL TIME POSITION CORRECTION TO GROUND GENERATED SPACECRAFT EPHEMERIS

Abstract

Real time correction to ground generated satellite ephemeris implements a reference trajectory management module (334), an error estimation module (336), an parameter calculation module (338) and a position information management module (340). The reference trajectory management module (334) accesses reference trajectory data such as ground generated ephemeris data which is uplinked to a spacecraft through a communications unit (312). The position information management module (340) accesses and interprets position information such as Global Positioning System (GPS) measurement data to provide measured spacecraft positions. The parameter calculation module (338) calculates spacecraft position and velocity from the reference trajectory data. The error estimation module (336) compares the measured and calculated positions to provide a position difference, smoothes the position difference to filter anomalous data, and provides a correction term for the determination of corrected spacecraft orbital parameters such as position and velocity. The time rate of change of the correction term may be used to provide additional correction to the orbital parameters.

Source: Google Patents

35 USC §181 Secrecy Order

Inventor

• 1HUNT W. SMALL

Sensitive facility: Sunnyvale CA (Lockheed Missiles & Space)

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