Absolute and Relative Orbit Determination for Satellite Constellations

Precise absolute and relative orbit determination, referred to as Precise Orbit Determination (POD) and Precise Baseline Determination (PBD), are a prerequisite for the success of many Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite missions. With the spaceborne, high-quality, multi-channel, dual-frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, typically a...

Absolute and relative orbit determination for the CHAMP/GRACE constellation

Precise orbit determination was investigated for a satellite constellation comprised of two different missions, the CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) satellite and the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) twin satellites. The orbital planes of these two missions aligned closely during March to May 2005, allowing precise...

The impact of GPS receiver modifications and ionospheric activity on Swarm baseline determination

The European Space Agency (ESA) Swarm mission is a satellite constellation launched on 22 November 2013 aiming at observing the Earth geomagnetic field and its temporal variations. The three identical satellites are equipped with high-precision dual-frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, which make the constellation an ideal...