Umlaufbahnsteuerung eines Raumfahrzeuges bei Rückmeldung der Lage der Umlaufbahn

A spacecraft orbit control system (16) and method (30) for controlling the orbit of a spacecraft during orbit raising includes processing spacecraft position data to meet the spacecraft attitude sensing needs for long duration, low thrust orbit raising burns. The actual spacecraft position as determined by a global positioning system (GPS) receiver (12) is compared with the desired spacecraft position to generate an error signal indicative of a spacecraft position error for adjusting the attitude of the spacecraft as thrusters move the spacecraft. The attitude of the spacecraft is adjusted to eliminate the spacecraft position error such that the actual spacecraft position corresponds with the desired spacecraft position and the spacecraft maintains a desired orbit during the orbit raising.