SATELLITE TRACKING BY RADIO
Abstract
The studies have shown that satellite doppler data from telemetry and single beacon transmitters below 500 Mc will generally not provide accurate data for single station orbit determination due to frequency measurement inaccuracy, frequency instability, and refraction in the ionosphere. Accurate doppler tracking can be achieved if the satellite transmits on frequencies in the upper part of the UHF range or higher, if a very stable oscillator is used in the satellite, and very sophisticated frequency counting and computing techniques are used at the ground stations. If satellite transmitting frequencies below approximately 500 Mc are used, it may be helpful to correct for ionospheric refraction by actual measurement, using 2 widely separated satellite transmitting frequencies. Mathematical techniques for orbit determination using radio frequency data were investigated for closed form methods and an iterative method. Also, experiments were conducted to determine feasibility of obtaining simultaneous azimuth and doppler data using a special type of radio direction finder. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0263168
Entities
People
- Roy E. Anderson
Organizations
- General Electric