Improvement of the orbit of the Spektr-R spacecraft in the RadioAstron mission and required conditions for improvement using a Kalman filter

Abstract

This paper is concerned with improvement of the state vector of the Spektr-R spacecraft of the RadioAstron mission. The state vector includes three coordinates of the position of the spacecraft and three components of its velocity in the Geocentric Celestial Reference System. Improvement of the orbit of the spacecraft is understood as improvement of the state vector. The results are compared with the original orbits determined at the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics (IAM). The paper considers both using the Kalman filter based on a single set of radio-range and Doppler data from ground-based stations and the analysis of conditions that will lead to improvement of the orbit. It has been shown that using three ground-based stations that perform simultaneous measurements the problem is solved completely, even when a poor initial approximation is used. Based on the results, a list of requirements is obtained that will provide more accurate information on the orbit of the Spektr-R spacecraft.