Skygistics will take care of your satellite tracking needs
It’s one of the buzz words for the 21 st century, it is used for finding vehicles, helping you to find your way to helping you make calls from remote parts of the world – we know where it gets used, but do you know what satellite tracking actually is?
What started a revolution in our everyday life was initially developed by the American military. They used the Global Positioning System (GPS) as a navigation system but soon opened it up for general use throughout the world, satellitetracking being one of the most advanced today.
GPS is a constellation of 27 satellites that orbits around Earth. Of these 27 only 24 is in operation – the others are there for backup purposes.
These satellites, weighing between 1 300kg and 1 800 kg are solar powered and circle the globe at 19 300 km, making two complete rotations every day. The orbits are arranged so that at any time, anywhere on Earth, there are at least four satellites "visible" in the sky. A GPS receiver's job is to locate four or more of these satellites, figure out the distance to each, and use this information to deduce its own location. This operation is based on a simple mathematical principle called trilateration.
How trilateration and satellite tracking works
It is similar to triangulation, however, distances are used to determine the position. For example, if you k now you are 10 miles from satellite A in the sky, you could be anywhere on the surface of a huge, imaginary sphere with a 10-mile radius. If you also know you are 15 miles from satellite B, you can overlap the first sphere with another, larger sphere. The spheres intersect in a perfect circle. If you know the distance to a third satellite, you get a third sphere, which intersects with this circle at two points.
A GPS continuously checks distances to the satellites and can so tell you where you or your vehicle is.
For state-of-the-art satellitetracking solutions contact Skygistics today – they have the perfect solution, regardless of what your needs are. |
