Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology
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Pertanika ยท Universiti Putra Malaysia Press

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology

Official journal of Universiti Putra Malaysia for scholarly work across science, engineering and related technologies.

e-ISSN 2231-8526 ISSN 0128-7680
Research article

SDA based Precise Orbit Determination Technique for Medium Earth Orbit Satellites

Mishra, S., Singh, G., Singh, M. and Gaba, G. S.

KeywordsAtmospheric drag, Estimation techniques, Gauss theory, Inter Satellite Distance, Kalman filtering, Kepler elements, Non-gravitational forces
Article content

Abstract

The satellite orbit determination approach involves a set of techniques which measure the satellite motion in terms of its velocity and position. In this paper, we have elaborated the method of determining an accurate ephemeris for an orbiting satellite which involves estimating the position and velocity of the satellite from a sequence of observations. To observe perturbations in the orbit due to different types of gravitational and non-gravitational effect, we have applied the prediction algorithm and analysed the changes in the Kepler's elements. Dynamic and static errors are the limiting factors for estimation techniques, such as the geo-potential model errors and atmospheric drag model errors, depending on the dynamic environment of the satellite. The proposed prediction model can help to prevent the loss of control over the satellite due to orbital variations.