Method and apparatus for accurately determining the position of satellites in geosynchronous orbits

摘要

A method of determining the position of a satellite in a near geosynchronous orbit includes receiving at least one main lobe signal from an antenna on a first GPS satellite. A GPS signal, including GPS time and Doppler, is received from a pseudolite positioned on the Earth and an approximate position of each of a plurality of second GPS satellites is determined from an onboard almanac. Side lobe signals and accompanying noise are received from antennas on the plurality of second GPS satellites. The GPS signal and known sequential data bits are used for sorting or integrating the side lobe signals from the accompanying noise and the position of the satellite in a near geosynchronous orbit is determined using the one or more main lobe signals and the sorted side lobe signals.