TOPEX Maneuver Detection Using GPS Residuals

E. Accad, E. Paredes, S. Graham, R. Ahmadi, A. Soroosh, A. Salama

Abstract:	During the solar maximum cycle that occurs every eleven years, Topex needs to perform about 4 Orbit Maintenance Maneuvers (OMM) per year in order to maintain the 10-day repeat ground track and stay within the fixed 2-km equatorial band specified in the operational requirements. The responsibility of providing a quick confirmation of a Topex maneuver falls on the Topex navigation team. The spacecraft engineers need a quick confirmation of the maneuver to assess and implement contingency plans for the satellite. Maneuver evaluation and confirmation have been based upon a comparison of pre and post-maneuver Orbit Determination (OD). Operational orbit determination was routinely performed by the Flight Dynamics Facility (FDF) at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), primarily using Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) range and Doppler data. A quick look OD solution (within 6 hours after a maneuver) was available based upon TDRS tracking solution for maneuver evaluation. With the recent suspension of FDF support for Topex OD tasks, there has been a need for a quick evaluation of a maneuver based upon other sources of data. This paper discusses a quick way of evaluating the success of a Topex maneuver by using the satellite's GPS data.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS/GNSS 2003) September 9 - 12, 2003 Oregon Convention Center Portland, OR
Pages:	2212 - 2217
Cite this article:	Accad, E., Paredes, E., Graham, S., Ahmadi, R., Soroosh, A., Salama, A., "TOPEX Maneuver Detection Using GPS Residuals," Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GPS/GNSS 2003), Portland, OR, September 2003, pp. 2212-2217.
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