Geosynchronous Satellite Orbit Determination

A Role for Improved Angular Observations in Geosynchronous Orbit Determination

Geosynchronous Satellite Use of GPS

The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of GPS use for a geosynchronous (GEO) satellite. Current missions at GEO altitude mainly use traditional ranging for orbit determination. With changing mission requirements and the increase in the number of GEO missions, utilizing GPS signals is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative for position and timing determination. A previo...

Bulk plasma properties at geosynchronous orbit

[1] We present a comprehensive study of plasma properties at geosynchronous orbit for electron and ion energies between 1 eV and 45 keV, between 1990 and 2001. The variations of temperature and density are analyzed as functions of local time, magnetospheric convection strength, and the strength of the ring current. Various parameters derived from temperature and density are calculated to elucid...

Determination of the best-fitting reference orbit for a LEO satellite using the Lagrange coefficients

Linearization of the nonlinear equations and iterative solution is the most well-known scheme in many engineering problems. For geodetic applications of the LEO satellites, e.g. the Earth’s gravity field recovery, one needs to provide an initial guess of the satellite location or the so-called reference orbit. Numerical integration can be utilized for generating the reference orbit if a satelli...

A Survey of Geosynchronous Satellite Glints

We present USNO Flagstaff Station optical photometric measurements from an intense campaign to monitor geosynchronous satellite glints in support of interferometric measurements at the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI). While observations were obtained during four glint seasons over two years, we concentrate here on observations from the vernal equinox 2009 glint season. In particula...