Preliminary orbit determination by a composite multivariate search strategy

A new strategy is presented for the problem of preliminary orbit determination with limited data and a very approximate initial estimate. This strategy, which is based on the minimization of the observation error function, is essentially a combination of two types of multivariate search, random and deterministic, in the parameter space, ordered in such a way as to exploit the relative inherent advantages of the two types of methods. The feasibility of achieving accurate state estimates with such a strategy has been explored by simulation studies. Further, the potential practical applicability of the proposed method has been demonstrated using a variety of actual tracking data sets and orbit conditions.