Ranging and positioning experiments for aircraft using Engineering Test Satellite V

In an aeronautical satellite system for air traffic control in an oceanic area, it is important to know the position of aircraft at the ground earth station. This paper describes a ranging and positioning system using two geostationary satellites, one real and one pseudo on the ground, and gives the results of experiments. This system is designed to allow ranging and positioning of each aircraft every 0.6 s with a ranging and positioning accuracy of 100 m and 1 km, respectively. Experiments to estimate this system were performed using two aircraft: a Boeing 747 on the north Pacific route with a satellite elevation angle (EL) of about 20°, and a Beechcraft B99 in the domestic area of Japan with an EL of about 47°. The random error of the range was about 50 m in the experiment on the north Pacific route. The difference between the position of the B99 obtained with our system and that obtained with the global positioning system (GPS) was about 500 m in the experiment in the domestic area of Japan