Abstract The BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3) generates navigation messages from a regional ground tracking network and inter-satellite links (ISL), relying on predicted station coordinates and Earth rotation parameters (ERPs). These procedures, however, may lead to orientation errors in the broadcast ephemeris, termed constellation rotation errors.
Traditionally, these errors are monitored through Helmert transformation analysis comparing broadcast and post-processed orbits, a method that highlights discrepancies between the
GNSS Terrestrial Reference Frame (TRF) and the International Terrestrial Reference Frame
(ITRF) but suffers from a two-week evaluation delay. This study proposes a near real-time approach for estimating constellation rotation errors using high precision Satellite Laser-Ranging (SLR) data, representing the difference between GNSS TRF and ITRF through the
International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) TRF. The impact of SLR data quantity and distribution on rotation estimation accuracy is investigated, and the effectiveness of this method on BDS-3 orbits with ERP-induced orientation deficiencies is validated. Results show that the root mean square (RMS) of broadcast orbit errors and the orbit user ranging error
(URE) reduce from 0.8/0.7/0.2 m to 0.1/0.1/0.1 m, respectively. This demonstrates the method’s capability for real-time monitoring and correcting orientation errors within BDS-3 navigation messages.