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Techniques for monitoring and controlling yawing of a GPS satellite in an orbit that has an eclipsing portion out of the sunlight based on the orbital conditions of the GPS satellite. In one embodiment, a constant yaw bias is generated in the attitude control system of the GPS satellite to control t

Techniques for monitoring and controlling yawing of a GPS satellite in an orbit that has an eclipsing portion out of the sunlight based on the orbital conditions of the GPS satellite. In one embodiment, a constant yaw bias is generated in the attitude control system of the GPS satellite to control the yawing of the GPS satellite when it is in the shadow of the earth.

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[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. A method of performing yaw compensation on a GPS satellite traveling in an eclipsing orbit around the earth, comprising:applying a constant biasing signal to an output signal from a sensing device in an attitude control system on a GPS satellite in an eclipsing orbit ar

[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. A method of performing yaw compensation on a GPS satellite traveling in an eclipsing orbit around the earth, comprising:applying a constant biasing signal to an output signal from a sensing device in an attitude control system on a GPS satellite in an eclipsing orbit around the earth, said sensing device operating to detect sunlight, said attitude control system controlling yawing of said GPS satellite with respect to said output signal;setting said constant biasing signal to a preselected value to cause said attitude control system to produce a biasing yawing angle of said GPS satellite;using said biasing yawing angle to control said yawing of said GPS satellite when said GPS satellite is not in sunlight;measuring an actual yawing angle of said GPS satellite; andadjusting said yawing of said GPS satellite to minimize a difference between said actual yawing angle and a desired yawing angle with said attitude control system by an iterative process.