On-board orbit determination for applications satellites

Abstract

An algorithm for satellite orbit determination is described which would be suitable for use with an on-board computer with limited core storage. The proposed filter is recursive on a pass-by-pass basis and features a fading memory to account for the effect of gravity field error. Only a single pass of Doppler data needs to be stored at any time and the data may be acquired from two reference beacons located within the Continental United States. The results of both simulated data and real data reductions demonstrate that the satellite's position can be determined to within one kilometer when a 4 x 4 recovery field is used.