RAPID DETERMINATION OF SATELLITE ORBITS FROM DOPPLER DATA

Abstract

In the orbit determination procedure described in this paper, the set of physical quantities fitted in the computations is not the set of basic measurements made by the ground stations. Rather, it uses the basic measurements on a pass-by-pass basis, together with a preliminary estimate of the orbit, to determine a fictitious position of the tracking station for each pass. It can be shown that the error in station position is also a representation of the error in satellite position at the center time of the pass. Thus, for each pass, a new estimate of satellite position is formed, and a new orbit is chosen to fit these positions. It should be possible to apply this method to any type of tracking data. With Doppler data, the convergence of the orbit determination position is much faster than that of the conventional method.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1963
Accession Number
AD0631650

Entities

People

  • Robert R. Newton

Organizations

  • Johns Hopkins University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Altitude
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Circular Orbits
  • Computations
  • Convergence
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Doppler Effect
  • Elliptical Orbits
  • Errors
  • Frequency
  • Grids
  • Iterations
  • Orbits
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Satellite Orbits
  • Trajectories

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Approximation Theory.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris