A Vectorial Bootstrapping Approach for Integrated GNSS-based Relative Positioning and Attitude Determination of Spacecraft

Traditionally in multi-spacecraft missions (e.g. formation flying, rendezvous) the GNSS-based relative positioning and attitude determination problem are treated as independent. In this contribution we will investigate the possibility to use multi-antenna data from each spacecraft, not only for atti...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Buist, P., Teunissen, Peter, Verhagen, A., Giorgi, G.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Pergamon 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49446
_version_ 1848758240785989632
author Buist, P.
Teunissen, Peter
Verhagen, A.
Giorgi, G.
author_facet Buist, P.
Teunissen, Peter
Verhagen, A.
Giorgi, G.
author_sort Buist, P.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Traditionally in multi-spacecraft missions (e.g. formation flying, rendezvous) the GNSS-based relative positioning and attitude determination problem are treated as independent. In this contribution we will investigate the possibility to use multi-antenna data from each spacecraft, not only for attitude determination, but also to improve the relative positioning between spacecraft. Both for ambiguity resolution and accuracy of the baseline solution, we will show the theoretical improvement achievable as a function of the number of antennas on each platform. We concentrate on ambiguity resolution as the key to precise relative positioning and attitude determination and will show the theoretical limit of this kind of approach. We will use mission parameters of the European Proba-3 satellites in a software-based algorithm verification and a hardware-in-the-loop simulation. The software simulations indicated that this approach can improve single epoch ambiguity resolution up to 50% for relative positioning applying the typical antenna configurations for attitude determination. The hardware-in-the-loop simulations show that for the same antenna configurations, the accuracy of the relative positioning solution can improve up to 40%.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T09:40:51Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-49446
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:40:51Z
publishDate 2011
publisher Pergamon
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-494462017-09-13T16:07:45Z A Vectorial Bootstrapping Approach for Integrated GNSS-based Relative Positioning and Attitude Determination of Spacecraft Buist, P. Teunissen, Peter Verhagen, A. Giorgi, G. Kinematic relative positioning Hardware-in-the-loop simulation GNSS/GPS Attitude determination Multi-antenna Traditionally in multi-spacecraft missions (e.g. formation flying, rendezvous) the GNSS-based relative positioning and attitude determination problem are treated as independent. In this contribution we will investigate the possibility to use multi-antenna data from each spacecraft, not only for attitude determination, but also to improve the relative positioning between spacecraft. Both for ambiguity resolution and accuracy of the baseline solution, we will show the theoretical improvement achievable as a function of the number of antennas on each platform. We concentrate on ambiguity resolution as the key to precise relative positioning and attitude determination and will show the theoretical limit of this kind of approach. We will use mission parameters of the European Proba-3 satellites in a software-based algorithm verification and a hardware-in-the-loop simulation. The software simulations indicated that this approach can improve single epoch ambiguity resolution up to 50% for relative positioning applying the typical antenna configurations for attitude determination. The hardware-in-the-loop simulations show that for the same antenna configurations, the accuracy of the relative positioning solution can improve up to 40%. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49446 10.1016/j.actaastro.2010.09.027 Pergamon restricted
spellingShingle Kinematic relative positioning
Hardware-in-the-loop simulation
GNSS/GPS
Attitude determination
Multi-antenna
Buist, P.
Teunissen, Peter
Verhagen, A.
Giorgi, G.
A Vectorial Bootstrapping Approach for Integrated GNSS-based Relative Positioning and Attitude Determination of Spacecraft
title A Vectorial Bootstrapping Approach for Integrated GNSS-based Relative Positioning and Attitude Determination of Spacecraft
title_full A Vectorial Bootstrapping Approach for Integrated GNSS-based Relative Positioning and Attitude Determination of Spacecraft
title_fullStr A Vectorial Bootstrapping Approach for Integrated GNSS-based Relative Positioning and Attitude Determination of Spacecraft
title_full_unstemmed A Vectorial Bootstrapping Approach for Integrated GNSS-based Relative Positioning and Attitude Determination of Spacecraft
title_short A Vectorial Bootstrapping Approach for Integrated GNSS-based Relative Positioning and Attitude Determination of Spacecraft
title_sort vectorial bootstrapping approach for integrated gnss-based relative positioning and attitude determination of spacecraft
topic Kinematic relative positioning
Hardware-in-the-loop simulation
GNSS/GPS
Attitude determination
Multi-antenna
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49446