Position Experiments Using Distance Measurements of Satellite ATS—3

Extract

Following an invitation by N.A.S.A., the Bundesrepublik Deutschland carried out an experiment with the U.S. satellite ATS-3 (Applications Technology Satellite). The satellite is synchronous, or stationary with respect to the Earth's surface, at an altitude of about 35,800 km. above the equator.

The object of the experiment was to determine the system parameters for a navigation satellite system. This included investigation of the bandwidth of the ultra short-wave band used, and testing speech and data transmission between ships and the mainland, as well as carrying out determinations of baselines. The results are published in Research Report FB69—37 of the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Wissenschaft. The experiments were carried out during two expeditions of the German research ship Meteor, under the direction of the Deutsche Hydrographische Institut. The expeditions were to the west African coast in the spring of 1968, and in the summer to the Faroe Islands. In the fall of 1968 investigations were completed by measurements from a mainland station which was installed on the institute building of the Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt. This paper describes only the position experiment.