Development of the Stanford GNSS Navigation Testbed for Distributed Space Systems

Abstract

is a Ph.D. student in the Space Rendezvous Laboratory. He graduated from Bucknell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. His current research focuses on using GNSS technology for precise relative navigation of multiple small satellites. This includes development of algorithms for integer ambiguity resolution to accomplish this task in real-time, given the onboard constraints. His main research project is the Distributed multi-GNSS Timing and Localization system (DiGiTaL) under development for the NASA Small Satellite Technology Development Program in cooperation with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Tyvak Nanosatellite Systems.

Formation Design of Distributed Telescopes in Earth Orbit for Astrophysics Applications

“…The mission is simulated using a high-fidelity orbit propagator that includes all significant perturbations in Earth orbit [52]. The models used for each of these perturbations are summarized in Table 6 [53,54].…”

Distributed multi‐GNSS timing and localization for nanosatellites

“…A key metric that is used to analyze the performance of the GNSS receiver is the noise of its raw measurements. This is quantified through a zero‐baseline test, which was performed on the NovAtel in the GRAND testbed at Stanford . The zero‐baseline test uses a GNSS signal simulator to run two identical tests with the same receiver.…”

“…The functionality and performance of DiGiTaL is evaluated at the Stanford GNSS and RF autonomous navigation testbed for DSS (GRAND) . This testbed was designed to evaluate each aspect of small‐satellite GNSS navigation systems in a hardware‐in‐the‐loop environment, including the receiver, intersatellite radios, and flight software.…”

“…The software architecture is then presented, where the navigation algorithms are detailed. The final section shows a hardware‐in‐the‐loop (HIL) test case in Stanford's GRAND (GNSS and radio frequency [RF] autonomous navigation testbed for DSS) testbed, where the DiGiTaL prototype is evaluated, demonstrating the ability to achieve centimeter‐level relative positioning solutions in a swarm of four nanosatellites.…”

Distributed Multi-GNSS Timing and Localization for Nanosatellites

“…The software architecture is then presented, where the navigation algorithms are detailed. The final section shows a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testcase in Stanford's GRAND testbed [25], where the DiGiTaL prototype is evaluated, demonstrating the ability to achieve centimeterlevel relative positioning solutions in a swarm of four nanosatellites.…”