NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR CONTROL OF THE ORBITAL TRANSFER VEHICLE FOR GPS

MICROCOSM PROPOSES TO APPLY INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY TO THE PROBLEM OF PROVIDING LOW COST CONTROL FOR AN ELECTRIC PROPULSION ORBIT TRANSFER VEHICLE (OTV) FOR THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS). SPECIFICALLY, DURING PHASE I WE WILL ESTABLISH THE SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE CONFIGURATION AND SPECIFICATIONS TO ACCOMPLISH AUTONOMOUS ORBIT AND ATTITUDE DETERMINATION AND CONTROL FOR THE OTV MISSION, ESTABLISH THE SPECIFIC ALGORITHMS FOR THIS TASK, DEVELOP A RAPID PROTOTYPE OF THE ON-BOARD SOFTWARE, AND ASSESS THE EARLY ORBIT OPERATIONS NECESSARY TO ACCOMPLISH GPS DEPLOYMENT AND RETRIEVAL OF THE OTV BY OMV OR A SIMILAR TELEOPERATED VEHICLE. MICROCOSM PERSONNEL ASSIGNED TO THIS ACTIVITY HAVE SUBSTANTIAL EXPERIENCE IN THE ABOVE AREAS AND HAVE WORKED EXTENSIVELY ON DEVELOPING LOW COST SOLUTIONS IN SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND CONTROL OF LOW THRUST TRANSFER VEHICLES. MICROCOSM ALSO HAVE TWO PATENTS PENDING ON LOW THRUST TRANSFER AND ORBIT MAINTENANCE. PHASE I WILL CLEARLY ESTABLISH THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF PROVIDING LOW COST CONTROL FOR AN ELECTRIC PROPULSION OTV FOR DEPLOYMENT OF THE GPS SATELLITES.