GPS Attitude Determination and Navigation Flight Experiment

Abstract

A GPS attitude and navigation receiver operated successfully in space as a flight experiment on the Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) CRISTA-SPAS free flying satellite. This flight resulted in the first space operation of GPS derived attitude determination. The satellite was launched from, separated and subsequently recovered by Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS 66, November 3-14, 1994. The vehicle operated at a distance of several kilometers from the Shuttle during the 11 day mission. The spacecraft attitude was maintained with a stellar-inertial attitude determination system using mass expulsion actuators for control to point the Crista telescope at a pre designated point on the Earth’s limb. The GPS TANS Vector receiver navigated and determined three axes attitude with respect to an antenna reference frame fixed to the CRISTA-SPAS vehicle but not aligned to it. An alignment transformation between the GPS antenna system and the spacecraft was derived post flight. The GPS receiver operated satisfactorily during the flight.