Accurate navigation of the satellite tour portion of the Galileo mission requires an accurate ephemeris of the Galilean satellites. The ephemeris is updated using radiometric and optical tracking data acquired during the satellite tour. The improved accuracy of the satellite ephemeris leads to improved targeting accuracy at subsequent encounters. The Galileo mission will benefit from improved targeting accuracy through reduced propellant costs and improved pointing accuracy. The predicted error in the updated ephemeris can be less than approximations inherent in the analytical theory used for the ephemeris, so an alternate numerical representation is applied. This alternate description shows promise but also raises questions of numerical stability.
Galilean satellite ephemeris improvement using Galileo tour encounter information
AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Conference ; 1988 ; Minneapolis, MN, United States
1988-01-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
NTRS | 1994
|Galilean satellite tour orbit determination assessment
AIAA | 1987
|Galilean satellite tour orbit determination assessment
NTRS | 1987
|