MINIATURIZED GPS RECEIVERS AND TRANSLATORS FOR SPACE TEST AND EVALUATION

IT IS PROPOSED THAT MINIATURIZED GPS TRANSLATORS BE DEVELOPED TO MEET LOW VOLUME, WEIGHT AND POWER CONSUMPTION REQUIREMENTS FOR INSTRUMENTATION ON BOARD SDI TESTS SUCH AS THE SPACE-BASED INTERCEPTOR (SBI). THE PROPOSED TRANSLATOR WOULD REBROADCAST THE GPS SATELLITE SIGNALS FROM SBI PROJECTILES TO A MASTER GPS RECEIVER AT THE SBI PLATFORM WHERE THE LOCATIONS OF THE INTERCEPTORS ARE COMPUTED. SINCE THE MASTER GPS RECEIVER TRACKS BOTH THE ACTUAL AND TRANSLATED GPS SIGNALS, THE LOCATION OF TRANSLATOR RELATIVE TO THE MASTER RECEIVER CAN BE DETERMINED TO WITHIN A FEW METERS USING DIFFERENTICAL GPS TECHNIQUES. IT IS ALSO PROPOSED THAT GPS BE USED FOR POSITIONING AND POINTING SPACE BASED KINETIC ENERGY WEAPONS PRIOR TO FIRING. CONVENTIONAL GPS NAVIGATION WILL PROVIDE THE SBI PLATFORM LOCATION TO 18 M (SEP). USING CARRIER PHASE INTERFEROMETRY FROM MULTIPLE ANTENNAE, THE SBI PLATFORM CAN BE POINTED TO WITHIN 50 MICRO-RADIANS (10 ARC-SECONDS). THIS WILL ALLOW AN SBI PROJECTILE TO BE PLACED WITHIN 30 M OF THE TARGET AFTER A 500 KM FLIGHT WITHOUT MID-COURSE CORRECTIONS BEING APPLIED. THE PHASE I STUDY SHALL INCLUDE EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR EXISTING SDI PROGRAMS, RESEARCH OF SUITABLE ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGIES AND EXISTING HARDWARE THAT MAY BE ADAPTED TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS. THE STUDY SHALL CONCLUDE WITH A TRADE-OFF ANALYSIS OF THE DIFFERENT SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES WITH A RECOMMENDATION ON THE MOST ADVANTAGEOUS SYSTEM FOR DEVELOPMENT BASED ON RISK, COST AND ADVANTAGE COMPARISONS.