Precise orbit determination of BeiDou constellation based on BETS and MGEX network

Area of Science:

• Satellite Navigation
• Geodesy
• Orbital Mechanics

Background:

• The Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is operational as a regional constellation.
• It comprises Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), Inclined Geosynchronous Satellite Orbit (IGSO), and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the precise orbits of the BeiDou constellation using observational data.
• To evaluate the performance of different modeling strategies for orbit determination.

Main Methods:

• Processing of observational data from BeiDou Experimental Tracking Stations (BETS) and the IGS Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) network.
• Investigation of various arc lengths and solar radiation pressure models, specifically comparing the ECOM five-parameter and nine-parameter models.
• Analysis of orbit overlap and Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) residuals.

Main Results:

• The ECOM five-parameter model demonstrated superior performance for BeiDou IGSO and MEO satellites compared to the nine-parameter model.
• Achieved orbit overlap better than 20 cm (IGSO) and 14 cm (MEO) in RMS for 3-day arc solutions.
• Satellite Laser Ranging residuals were better than 10 cm for IGSO and MEO, with several meters overlap and decimeter residuals for GEO.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully determined BeiDou satellite orbits with high precision.
• The ECOM five-parameter model is recommended for BeiDou IGSO and MEO orbit determination.
• BeiDou GEO satellites achieved orbit overlap in the meters and decimeter range for SLR residuals.