Orbit Determination Accuracy Improvement for Geostationary Satellite with Single Station Antenna Tracking Data

An operational orbit determination (OD) and prediction system for the geostationary Communication, Ocean, and Meteorological Satellite (COMS) mission requires accurate satellite positioning knowledge to accomplish image navigation registration on the ground. Ranging and tracking data from a single ground station is used for COMS OD in normal operation. However, the orbital longitude of the COMS is so close to that of satellite tracking sites that geometric singularity affects observability. A method to solve the azimuth bias of a single station in singularity is to periodically apply an estimated azimuth bias using the ranging and tracking data of two stations. Velocity increments of a wheel offloading maneuver which is performed twice a day are fixed by planned values without considering maneuver efficiency during OD. Using only single‐station data with the correction of the azimuth bias, OD can achieve three‐sigma position accuracy on the order of 1.5 km root‐sum‐square.