Orbit Estimation of GEO-missions Applicable to NavIC Data

Abstract

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is India’s own navigation system. It is a seven satellite constellation with the operational name NavIC – Navigation with Indian Constellation. Satellite Orbit determination (OD) estimates the position and velocity of orbiting satellite. The two main estimation algorithms widely used in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and Least Squares. This study on Batch Least Squares (BLS) - Differential Correction (DC) algorithm demonstrates precise orbit estimation of any GEO missions using only range measurements with crude initial state parameters. Currently, the study is based on simulated inputs and the satellite orbits are successfully estimated with position error in sub-centimeters level. Further, the work will be extended to live data of IRNSS satellites.