David E Gaylor

US Patent:

7860617, Dec 28, 2010

Filed:

Jul 24, 2007

Appl. No.:

11/878359

Inventors:

David Gaylor - Edgewater MD, US
William Bamford - Severna Park MD, US
Neil E. Goodzeit - Princeton NJ, US
Harald J. Weigl - Doylestown PA, US

Assignee:

Lockheed Martin Corporation - Bethesda MD
Emergent Space Technologies, Inc. - Greenbelt MD

International Classification:

G05D 1/00

US Classification:

701 13, 701206, 701210

Abstract:

A spacecraft system is provided, including a measurement device configured to measure information associated with position of a spacecraft, a filter configured to process the measured information and to provide estimated pre-maneuver information associated with position of the spacecraft and estimated post-maneuver information associated with position of the spacecraft, a propagator configured to predict post-maneuver information associated with position of the spacecraft based upon the estimated pre-maneuver information associated with position of the spacecraft and a model of a maneuver of the spacecraft, an error calculator configured to calculate an acceleration error based upon the estimated post-maneuver information associated with position of the spacecraft and the predicted post-maneuver information associated with position of the spacecraft, and a maneuver archive configured to store the acceleration error for updating the model of the maneuver. The filter, the propagator, the error calculator and the maneuver archive may be implemented in software and/or onboard the spacecraft.