Patent ID: 6866232

Claim:
A system for assisting in the automated docking of two space vehicles, one being a target vehicle and the other being a chase vehicle, the system comprising: three antennas located at spaced-apart positions on a first one of the target vehicle and the chase vehicle; an antenna located on a second one of the target vehicle and the chase vehicle; an RF transmitter contained within the second vehicle, the transmitter being connected to the antenna located on the second vehicle, the transmitter transmitting RF signals via the antenna; three RF receivers contained within the first vehicle, each of the three receivers being connected to a different one of the three antennas located on the first vehicle, at least one of the receivers receiving RF signals from the transmitters via the antennas; a processor receptive of signals received by the receivers; wherein the transmitter transmits RF signals via the antennas on each vehicle to one or more of the three receivers and wherein the processor is operative to determine, based on the received signals, the range and angular position of the chase vehicle with respect to the target vehicle.