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AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsGrant Wang, Richard Fowell
Estimating the term…
Methods and structures are provided that enhance the accuracy of the service attitude of an inclined-orbit spacecraft and, thereby, facilitate reduction of service error between a communication service area and the spacecraft's payload beam. The enhancement is realized by configuring a beacon-receiving antenna to have a beacon-receiving field-of-view that substantially matches a beacon-station window. Preferably, the beacon-receiving field-of-view is elongated and tilted to enhance its match with the beacon-station window in both size and orientation. The goals are also realized by configuring the beacon-receiving antenna to have a beacon-receiving field-of-view that is substantially smaller than the beacon-station window and successively steering a beacon-receiving boresight to successive beacon-receiving attitudes that maintain the beacon station within the beacon-receiving field-of-view over each solar day. In an embodiment of the invention, successive positions of the beacon-receiving field-of-view are arranged in a tiled arrangement. Spacecraft structures are also provided to practice the methods of the invention.
A method of enhancing the accuracy of the service attitude of a spacecraft that orbits the earth each solar day wherein an earth-based beacon station transmits a beacon signal and, relative to said spacecraft, moves along a path that defines a beacon-station window, the method comprising the steps of:
A method of enhancing the accuracy of the service attitude of a spacecraft that orbits the earth each solar day wherein an earth-based beacon station radiates a beacon signal and, relative to said spacecraft, moves along a path that defines a beacon-station window, the method comprising the steps of:
A spacecraft that enhances the accuracy of the spacecraft's service attitude as it orbits the earth each solar day wherein an earth-based beacon station radiates a beacon signal and, relative to said spacecraft, moves along a path that defines a beacon-station window, the spacecraft comprising:
A spacecraft that enhances the accuracy of the spacecraft's service attitude as it orbits the earth each solar day wherein an earth-based beacon station radiates a beacon signal and, relative to said spacecraft, moves along a path that defines a beacon-station window, the spacecraft comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.