GPS/Galileo navigation in GTO/GEO orbit

The development of electrically propelled geostationary platforms, together with alternative strategies to reach geostationary orbit, increase the interest for autonomous satellite localization and particularly GNSS navigation for high altitude orbits. It is known that GNSS navigation in GTO/GEO is much more difficult than in LEO since the GNSS receiver is often or permanently at an altitude greater than the altitude of the GNSS constellations, making the GNSS signals drastically less available and weaker. This work is about GPS and Galileo navigation on GEO and GTO orbits, with revised hypotheses compared to studies sometimes more than 15 years old. Moreover, the study goes beyond GNSS geometrical visibility by dealing with operating thresholds and showing the sensitivity to key GNSS receiver thresholds and simulation hypotheses. Comprehensive simulation results and analyses come along with a discussion of the operational benefits of using GPS and Galileo navigation. These data eventually set the ground for a discussion of the key technical options (number and antenna types, GNSS function architecture, signal processing algorithms, orbital filter…). It is shown that using GNSS for GTOGEO orbits is feasible, even considering current spaceborne receivers state-of-the-art, and provides most of the acclaimed benefits of GNSS in LEO, among them more accurate spacecraft localization, precise onboard absolute time and increased autonomy.