초록 ▼

The attitude (yaw, pitch and roll) of a home satellite is determined using position signals, derived from a GPS receiver on the home satellite and GPS receiver on other satellites, that are transmitted between the home satellite and the other satellites by an intersatellite communications link using

The attitude (yaw, pitch and roll) of a home satellite is determined using position signals, derived from a GPS receiver on the home satellite and GPS receiver on other satellites, that are transmitted between the home satellite and the other satellites by an intersatellite communications link using gimbaled transceivers on the satellites. The home satellite determines its attitude from the gimbal elevation and azimuth and the position vectors between the satellites.

대표청구항 ▼

[ I claim:] [1.] A method characterized by:producing a first signal with a GPS receiver on board a first satellite, the first signal manifesting a position of the first satellite on a first frame of reference and transmitting the first signal from the first satellite to a second satellite over a bia

[ I claim:] [1.] A method characterized by:producing a first signal with a GPS receiver on board a first satellite, the first signal manifesting a position of the first satellite on a first frame of reference and transmitting the first signal from the first satellite to a second satellite over a biaxially aimed line of sight communications path;producing a second signal with a GPS receiver on board a third satellite, the second signal manifesting a position of the third satellite on the first frame of reference and transmitting the second signal from the third satellite to the second satellite over a biaxially aimed line of sight communications path;producing a line of sight signal on the second satellite that indicates an azimuth and elevation from the second satellite to the first satellite and the third satellite;producing position difference signals with a signal processor on board the second satellite, the position difference signals manifesting the difference in position on the first frame of reference between the second satellite and the first and third satellites as a function of the first and second signals and a third signal produced by a GPS receiver on board the second satellite, the third signal manifesting the position of the second satellite on the frame of reference; andcontrolling the attitude of the second satellite using signals produced by the signal processor and manifesting desired yaw, pitch and roll derived by correlating the position difference signals and each line of sight signal to a common frame of reference.