ORBIT DETERMINATION BY ANGULAR MEASUREMENTS

Abstract

From a tracking station of known geocentric location, the measurements of the azimuth and elevation of a satellite at three instants of time provided tracking data sufficient for a preliminary determination of the orbit of the satellite about the earth. From such data, the components (in a geocentered inertial coordinate system) of the position vectors of the satellite may be calculated and in terms of these components, all of the orbital elements may be expressed. In view of the given positional data of the tracking station and the directional data of the satellite's position, only the slant ranges are needed to complete the determination of the vectors. To solve for the slant ranges, an iterative procedure was introduced whereby successive systems of linear equations are solved. Subsequently, all of the orbital elements were easily computed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 29, 1964
Accession Number
AD0601856

Entities

People

  • P. O. Bell

Organizations

  • The Aerospace Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Air Force
  • Angular Momentum
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Circular Orbits
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Equations
  • Measurement
  • New York
  • Orbital Elements
  • Orbits
  • Slant Range
  • Space Systems
  • Time Intervals
  • Tracking Stations
  • United States
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Geodesy
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris