The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 05, 1999
Filed:
Jul. 23, 1998
Ahmed Kamel, Los Altos, CA (US);
Space Systems/Loral, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A precise, spacecraft camera image navigation and registration system and method wherein a computer 36 on-board the spacecraft and a ground system comprising at least two ground stations precisely compute image navigation and registration data from precise data measurements. The computer on-board the spacecraft (spacecraft control system) uses precise star tracker, gyro, and earth sensor attitude data to precisely point the spacecraft and the camera. The ground system utilizes precise star measurement data from the camera and range data from the ground stations time tagged with GPS precise clock data. The ground system uses these precise measurements to determine precise orbit and attitude coefficients and uploads these coefficient to the spacecraft. The computer on-board the spacecraft uses these precise coefficients to generate and apply precise signals to compensate for slow orbit and attitude variations and register camera images in real time. The computer on-board the spacecraft is also used to generate camera commands to eliminate the need to upload a large number of daily ground commands, which therefore simplifies ground operations.