MOON ADVANCED NAVIGATION USING GPS AND GALILEO SIGNALS
- Paper number
IAC-08.B2.2.12
- Author
Mr. Matthew Lynch, GMV S.A., Spain
- Coauthor
Mr. Pablo Colmenarejo, GMV S.A., Spain
- Coauthor
Ms. Mariella Graziano, GMV S.A., Spain
- Year
2008
- Abstract
GNSS constellations are designed to provide service to “terrestrial” users. Because of the constellations characteristics “terrestrial” users include up to 3000 km altitude without suffering significant degradation of the service. Within 3000 km altitude, they are included all LEO satellites missions. Above 3000 km altitude, the GNSS coverage starts to present degradations gaps. Nevertheless, even with degraded coverage gaps, the GNSS service is still very powerful navigation help. MEO satellites (e.g. 10000 km altitude) and even GEO satellites (36000 km latitude) may already benefit from one to several GNSS satellites signal tracking, whose ranging measurements (providing partial navigation information if the number of tracked satellites is lower than four) are hybridized with orbital propagators to cover less-than-four GNSS satellites coverage gaps so as to provide a continuous and full navigation state estimation with accuracy enough for many applications. The state-of-the art GPS receivers already include GEO expected performances from where the most appropriate receivers for high altitudes seems to be either the MosaicGNSS (Astrium) or the Topstar 3000 (Thales). Once beyond the GNSS constellation altitude, the limitations on the use of the GNSS signals is only constrained by the received signal power (C/No) and the physical limitations of the receivers design to go up to the limits of current technology. The present paper focuses on the use of available GNSS constellation signals in transfer orbits from the Earth to HEO up to the Moon distance. For this objective, the results of several tasks are presented: · Update of power link budget model to distances up to the Moon. · Analysis of theoretical visibility (main and 1st side lobes of the current GPS constellation satellites and new envisaged constellations, e.g. European Galileo) for different transfer orbit positions. · Power Link budget analysis of “visible” signals. · Requirements derivation for needed upgraded versions of current GPS/GNSS receivers (e.g. based on current MosaicGNSS and Topstar 3000 receivers) to be used for the Earth-Moon transfer scenario. · Analysis of complementarity of Earth GNSS constellation with future Moon GNSS mini-constellations (e.g. from 1 to 5 satellites). · Analysis of complementarities of Earth and/or Moon GNSS constellations with Moon surface beacons (Moon surface constant pointing towards Earth) with narrow radiation antenna pattern.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.B2.2.12.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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