The study presents an error budget for Delta differential one-way range (Delta-DOR) measurements between two spacecraft. Such observations, made between a planetary orbiter (or lander) and another spacecraft approaching that planet, would provide a powerful target-relative angular tracking data type for approach navigation. Accuracies of about 5 nrad should be possible for a pair of X-band spacecraft incorporating 40-MHz DOR tone spacings, while accuracies approaching 1 nrad will be possible if the spacecraft incorporate Ka-band downlinks with DOR tone spacings of order 250 MHz. Operational advantages of this data type are discussed, and ground system requirements needed to enable S/C-S/C Delta-DOR observations are outlined. A covariance analysis is presented to examine the potential navigation improvement for this scenario. The results show factors of 2-3 improvement in spacecraft targeting over conventional Doppler, range, and quasar-relative VLBI, along with reduced sensitivity to ephemeris uncertainty and other systematic errors.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Spacecraft-spacecraft very long baseline interferometry for planetary approach navigation




    Publication date :

    1991-01-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English






    Use of Very Long Baseline Array Interferometric Data for Spacecraft Navigation

    Martin-Mur, T. / Antreasian, P. / Border, J. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2006


    Differential Interferometry For Spacecraft Navigation

    Edwards, Charles D. / Border, James S. / Folkner, William M. et al. | NTRS | 1993