Satellite ranging instrumentation developed at ILR

The paper describes two systems of very high accuracy, developed at the Institut fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt (ILR) of the Technical University of Berlin, and based on the principles of tone ranging, and pseudo-noise code ranging, respectively. Both systems are designed to perform twoway ranging (ground-space-ground) through wideband telecommunication transponders. The links require channel bandwidths of a few megahertz and can be established without mutual interference through transponder channels occupied by ordinary telecommunications traffic. The systems developed feature hardware simplicity and low RF radiated power requirements. Resolutions of the order of some 10 psec can be achieved. Long-term drifts are of the same order of magnitude. System accuracies corresponding to overall delay errors of less than 1 nsec can be expected.