Laser Retroreflector Experiment on Navstar 35 and 36

E.C. Pavlis, Ronald L. Beard

Abstract:	In GPS one of the primary errors contributing to positioning inaccuracy is the performance of the on-board atomic clock. To determine and predict the performance of this atomic clock has been a problem due to the ambiguity of the orbital position error and clock uncertainty in the Radio Frequency (RF) tracking of the navigation signals. The Laser Retroreflector Experiment (LRE) on-board NAVSTAR 35 and 36 provides a means of separating these ambiguous errors by enabling highly precise and accurate satellite positions to be determined independently of the RF signals. The results of examining onboard clock behavior after removing the orbital position signatures will be discussed. GPS RF tracking data from various Doll and other sites are used to reconstruct the onboard clack data and examine the cluck behavior. From these data, the effects of clock performance on GPS positioning performance can examined.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 26th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting December 6 - 8, 1994 Hyatt Regency Reston Town Center Reston, Virginia
Pages:	427 - 442
Cite this article:	Pavlis, E.C., Beard, Ronald L., "Laser Retroreflector Experiment on Navstar 35 and 36," Proceedings of the 26th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Reston, Virginia, December 1994, pp. 427-442.
Full Paper:	ION Members/Non-Members: 1 Download Credit Sign In