Systems, methods and apparatus for determining object position

Abstract

A relatively simple and cost-effective way of determining the position of an object, such as a launch vehicle, without the need for expensive radar installations or GPS receivers. A transmitter is mounted on or in the object and the signal transmitted thereby from the object is detected by two or more object trackers on the ground. The object trackers determine the azimuth and elevation angles to the object relative to the object trackers by automatically pointing the object trackers at the object, tracking the object as it moves, and recording the azimuth and elevation angles at which the object trackers are pointed. Based on the known coordinates of the object trackers, which may themselves be moved or moving, the position of the object can be determined from the determined azimuth and elevation angles. There is also described a way of achieving the automatic tracking, by minimizing the phase difference between the signal detected by closely spaced pairs of antennas.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.