GEOS-3 Doppler difference tracking
Abstract
The Doppler difference method as applied to track the GEOS 3 spacecraft is discussed. In this method a pair of 2 GHz ground tracking stations simultaneously track a spacecraft beacon to generate an observable signal in which bias and instability of the carrier frequency cancel. The baselines are formed by the tracking sites at Bermuda, Rosman, and Merritt Island. Measurements were made to evaluate the effectiveness of the Doppler differencing procedure in tracking a beacon target with the high dynamic rate of the GEOS 3 orbit. Results indicate the precision of the differenced data to be at a level comparable to the conventional precise two way Doppler tracking.
- Publication:
-
NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N
- Pub Date:
- March 1977
- Bibcode:
- 1977STIN...7732222R
- Keywords:
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- Doppler Radar;
- Geos 3 Satellite;
- Satellite Tracking;
- Radar Beacons;
- Satellite-To-Satellite Tracking;
- Tracking Stations;
- Space Communications, Spacecraft Communications, Command and Tracking