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A new method for determination of satellite orbits by

transfer
LI ZhiGang1†, YANG XuHai1, AI GuoXiang2, SI HuLi2, QIAO RongChuan1 & FENG ChuGang3
1
National Time Service Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710600, China;
2
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China;
3
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, China

The original idea of a new method for determination of satellite orbits by transfer is from Two-Way Sat-
ellite Time and Frequency Transfer (TWSTFT). The original method is called “determination of satellite
orbit by transfer”. The method is not only for determination of satellite orbit but also for the time
transfer with high accuracy and precision. The advantage is that the accuracy and the precision for
determination of satellite orbit are very high and the new method is favorable for various applications.
The combination of various signals disseminated and received forms various modes of satellite orbit
determinations. If receivers at stations receive the own station-disseminated signals via a satellite
transponder, it forms an orbit determination mode called “receiving the own station-disseminated
signals mode”. If receivers at all stations receive the signals disseminated from the master station via
satellite transponders, it forms an orbit determination mode called “receiving the master station-dis-
seminated signals mode”. If all of receivers at stations receive all stations-disseminated signals via
satellite transponders, it forms an orbit determination mode called “receiving all stations-disseminated
signals mode”. Also there are other combinations of signals for satellite orbit determination. For dif-
ferent orbit determination modes with different signal combinations, their rigorous formulae of proc-
essing are hereby presented in this paper. The accurate and the precise satellite orbit determination for
both of the modes, “receiving the own station-disseminated signals mode” and “receiving the master
station-disseminated signals mode” is attempted. It shows that the accuracy and precision for both of
modes are nearly the same, the ranging accuracy is better than 1 cm, and the observation residuals of
satellite orbit determination are better than 9 cm in the observation duration of 1 day.

TWSTFT, transfer, satellite orbit determination

There are several kinds of techniques for satellite orbit
determinations. Recently, the united system for S Band
(USB) is used for regular observations of orbit determi-
nations. The ranging accuracy for the USB is 3－5 m
and the precision for orbit determination is about few
hundreds meters. It meets the requirements for space-
craft long-term management, so the USB is still used in
the observations of orbit determinations of spacecraft at
present. With the development of deep space tracking
and satellite navigation system, especially for the area
positioning system, such as Chinese Area Positioning
System (CAPS), requirements of accuracy and precision
for orbit determination are very high. The CAPS is con-
sisted by sets of Geostationary Satellites (GEO) placed
at an altitude of 36000 km above the equator. The angle
of the GEO satellite to Earth is very small (17.6°). If the
ranging stations are only placed in the area of China, the
angle of the GEO satellite to the area is only few degrees.
Viewing from space, the directions from satellite to all
stations are nearly parallel. Furthermore, the orbital pe-
Received September 8, 2008; accepted December 23, 2008
doi: 10.1007/s11433-009-0057-6
†
Corresponding author (email: lizg@ntsc.ac.cn)
Supported by the National Basic Research and Development Program of China
(Grant No. 2007CB815503100453001)

Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | Mar. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 3 | 384-392
riod of the GEO matches the period of the Earth’s rota-
tion so that velocity of satellite to ground is very low. If
the ranging accuracy is not good enough, the velocity of
GEO satellite to ground can not be determined. From the
above discussion, we can draw a conclusion that the
techniques of orbit determination with lower accuracy
are not able to obtain the precise orbit of the GEO satel-
lites. The ranging accuracy for Laser Ranging Satellite
(LRS) is very high, about 1 cm, but the observations are
limited by a weather condition, if the ranging stations
are limited in the area of China, and the coverage of
observation for the GEO is limited. It is not suitable for
regular observations of orbit determination. The accu-
racy of determination of angles for the VLBI is very
precise, but the orbit determination of satellite is not
superior over others. Obviously, techniques mentioned
above do not meet the requirements of orbit determina-
tion for satellite navigation system.
The Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer
(TWSTFT) is a technique of time transfer with high ac-
curacy. The possibility of time transfer by satellite was
researched before the first satellite in the world, Sputnik
1, was launched. The first time transfer experiment for
TWSTFT began in 1966. Since that time, the TWSTFT
is regarded as the hopeful method for high accuracy time
transfer. Using VSAT and spread-spectrum technique,
the accuracy and precision for time transfer were im-
proved greatly[1,2]. Soon, the method of TWSTFT be-
comes a routine technology[2] for time transfer. The first
TWSTFT link in China was set up in 1998 by the Na-
tional Time Service Centre, Chinese Academy of Sci-
ences, cooperated with Communication Research Labo-
ratory (CRL) in Japan and put in real regular operation,
the precision is better than 1 ns[3,4]. Based on TWSTFT[5],
an original method of satellite ranging, called “a method
for determination of satellite orbit by transfer”, was
proposed by National Time Service Center at the
TWSTFT WG 9th Meeting, and the corresponding tech-
nique of the new method was developed, it was used in
the project of the CAPS. The principle of observations is
that the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is em-
ployed. The time signals are generated by atomic clocks
at ground stations and are modulated with different
pseudo noise code sequence. The time signals with the
same carrier frequency via satellite transponder are
transmitted to receivers at ground stations. It is equal to
that there are N sets of positioning systems, like GPS, to
LI ZhiGang et al. Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | Mar. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 3 | 384-392
make the ranges between the satellite and the stations.
With high rate of the PN code (chip rate is 20 MHz for
CAPS), the ranging accuracy is better than 1 cm and the
precision of orbit determination is better than 2 m. Its
advantage is that observations are available for any
weather condition. Obviously, our technique of orbit
determinations with high accuracy can be used in satel-
lite management, deep space tracking, and precise orbit
determination for satellite navigation system. Even very
high precision can be reached by our method; in order to
confirm its accuracy, comparison of orbit with others is
needed.
1 The observation principle for deter-
mination of a satellite orbit by a transfer
Observation principle for “determination of satellite or-
bit by transfer” is that precise time signals from atomic
clocks of ground stations modeled with different
pseudo-noise code sequence are disseminated with the
same carrier frequencies. The time signals are trans-
ferred via satellite transponder and received by receivers
at stations, in such a way, that the time delay on the
propagation path can be determined. It means that the
distances between satellite and stations are determined.
The different modes are constructed by combinations of
received signals from different stations.
Receivers at stations receive their own station dis-
seminated signals, so we call it “receiving own station
disseminated signals mode”; receivers at stations only
receive the signals from the master station, so we call it
“receiving master station disseminated signals mode”; all
receivers receive all disseminated signals from all sta-
tions, so we call it “receiving all stations disseminated
signals mode”. A set of formulae of processing is hereby
presented, also, the observation results for both modes,
“receiving own station disseminated signals mode” and
“receiving master station disseminated signals mode” are
presented. The performance for both modes has been
confirmed.
1.1 Basic relationship of observations
Figure 1 shows an overview of the observation relation-
ship for orbit determination by transfer. It is assumed
that both station i and station j are the same. The time
signals of master clock at station i modulated by PN
code are dispatched to satellite. The signals from station
i are transferred to station j via satellite. The receiver at
385
station j demodulates it, and the delay time of signals for
path from station i to station j via satellite is determined.
It means that the distance between station i and station j
via satellite is also determined.
Figure 1 The principle for orbit determinations by transfer.
It is assumed that the signals from station i are re-
ceived by receiver at station j, and then their relation of
time delay for the transmitting signals can be expressed
as
Rit + Oiu + Ti + τ s + R rji + O jd
+ I ji − ΔT1i + ΔT1 j = R ji ,
where Rji is the reading of the Time Interval Counter
(TIC) at station j received signals from station i; Rit is
time delay of signals for that path from the phase center
of antenna of station i at the moment (when the signals
are disseminated) to satellite barycentre at the moment
(when the signals from station i are received); R rji is
time delay of signals of station i for that path from satel-
lite barycentre at the moment (when the signals of sta-
tion i are transferred) to the phase center of antenna of
station j at the moment (when the signals are received);
Oiu is the additional time delay of ionosphere at station
i for the up link; O jd is the additional time delay of
ionosphere at station j for the down link; Ti is trans-
mitter time delay at station i; I ji is time delay of Re-
ceiver at station j received signals from station i; ΔT1i
is clock offset at station i related to atomic clock of
master station, and define that τ 0 = τ i + ΔT1i , where
τ1 and τ i are clock time at master station and station i,
respectively; τ s is signals time delay of satellite trans-
ponder.
386 LI ZhiGang et al. Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | Mar. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 3 | 384-392
In eq. (1), the Ti and the I ji are signal delays for
both transmitters and receivers which can be determined
by a special survey. Rit is the time delay of dissemi-
nated signals for that path from the phase center of an-
tenna of station i at the moment (when the signals are
disseminated) to the phase center of antenna of satellite
at the moment ( when the signals are received by the
satellite ). In the inertial frame, it is a total sum of signal
delays of the distance (for that distance from phase cen-
ter of antenna of station i to the phase center of antenna
of satellite at the moment when the signals are received
by satellite) and the effect of earth rotation. R rji is the
time delay of received signals for that path from the
phase center of antenna of satellite at the moment (when
signals are transmitted by satellite) to the phase center of
antenna of station i at the moment (when signals are re-
ceived by receivers at station i). In the inertial frame, it
is the total sum of received signal delays of the distance
(for that distance from the phase center of antenna of
satellite to the phase center of antenna of station i at
moment of transferred signals of satellite) and the effect
(1) of earth rotation. Equation (1) is the formula for proc-
essing TWSTFT and orbit determination by transfer.
Correcting the effects of ionosphere, time delay of in-
strument and earth rotation, Rit can be replaced by Ri
(distance between the phase center of antenna of satellite
to the phase center of antenna of station i at moment of
received the signals by satellite). And R ji can be re-
placed by R j (the distance between the phase center of
antenna of satellite to the phase center of antenna of sta-
tion j at moment of satellite transmitted signals). Then,
eq. (1) can be rewritten as
Ri + τ s + R j − ΔT1i + ΔT1 j = R ji . (2)
The fact is that the time delay of the transponder and
that of the path can not be separated. If one half of the
former is allocated to the paths, i.e., if we define that
τ j = R j + τ s / 2,
then eq. (1) becomes
τ i + τ j − ΔT1i + ΔT1 j = R ji . (3)
Hereafter formula (3) will be discussed.
1.2 Reduction of the pseudo-range for the “receiv-
ing all stations-disseminated signals mode”
We assume that all stations disseminate signals and all
stations receive all signals from all stations. For such a Equation (5) is an incompatible equation, and it can be
net system with N stations, there are N sets of observa- solved by the method of least squares. Its normal equa-
tions for each station, and N×N sets of observations for tion is
N stations. The N unknowns for distances from satellite AT ⋅ A ⋅ B = AT ⋅ R,
to stations and N − 1 unknowns for clock offset related to and
master station can be solved by the method of least n
⎡
 ⎤
squares. For orbit determination, there are 3 unknowns ⎢n + 3 1 " 1 1 ⎥
for satellite positions. In principle, we can obtain the ⎢ ⎥
⎢ 1 n+3 " 1 1 ⎥
satellite orbit at least with a net system consisting of 3 ⎢ 1 1 " 1 1 ⎥
stations. ⎢ ⎥
We take the relation for a pair of observations when a T ⎢ # # ⎥
A ⋅A=⎢ , (6)
receiver at station i receives signals from station j and at 1 " n+3 " 1 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
the same time a receiver at station j receives signals ⎢ # # ⎥
from station i. According to eq. (3), the relation for such ⎢ ⎥
⎢ 1 1 " n+3 1 ⎥
a pair of observations consisting of two stations be- ⎢ 1 1 " n + 3⎥
comes ⎢ ⎥
⎣ ⎦
1 ⎡ R j1 + R1 j ⎤ ⎡ R ⎤
τ i + τ j = ( R ji + Rij ). (4)
2 ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ 11 ⎥
R + R
Equation (4) is an equation of observation for a pair of ⎢ j2 2j⎥
⎢ R22 ⎥
n ⎢ # ⎥ ⎢ # ⎥
observations. For the net consisting of N stations, there 1
AT ⋅ R = ∑ ⎢ ⎥ + ⎢ ⎥. (7)
are Cn2 sets of equations like eq. (3). Adding the equa- 2 j =1 ⎢ R ji + Rij ⎥ ⎢ Rii ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
tion of receiving own station disseminated signal mode, ⎢ # ⎥ ⎢ # ⎥
⎢ R + R ⎥ ⎣⎢ Rnn ⎦⎥
in total, there are n(n+1)/2 sets of equations. Then the ⎣ jn nj ⎦
equation of observation with matrix representation can Beginning at the second row of eq. (6), the first row is
be expressed as subtracted from each row, and we get
A ⋅ B = R, (5) n
⎡
 ⎤
where ⎢ n+3 1 " 1 1 ⎥
n ⎢ ⎥
⎡
 ⎤ ⎢ −n − 2 n + 2 " 0 0 ⎥
⎢2 0 " 0 0 ⎥ ⎢ −n − 2
⎢ ⎥ 0 0 0 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢1 1 " 0 0 ⎥ T ⎢ # # ⎥
⎢# # # #⎥ A ⋅A=⎢ , (8)
⎢ ⎥ −n − 2 " n + 2 " 0 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢1 0 " 0 1 ⎥ ⎢ # # ⎥
⎢0 2 " 0⎥ ⎢ ⎥
A=⎢ ⎥, ⎢ −n − 2 0 " n+2 0 ⎥
⎢0 1 " 0 0 ⎥ ⎢ −n − 2 0 " 0 n + 2⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢# # # #⎥ ⎣ ⎦
⎢0 1 " 1⎥
⎢ ⎥ and
⎢# # #⎥
⎢0 0 " 0 2 ⎥ ⎡ R j1 + R1 j ⎤ ⎡ R ⎤
11
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
R + R − R − R
⎣ ⎦ ⎢ j2 2j j1 1j ⎥
⎢ R22 − R11 ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ # ⎥
B = [τ1 , τ 2 , " , τ n ]T , 1 n #
AT ⋅ R = ∑ ⎢ ⎥+⎢ ⎥ . (9)
2 j =1 ⎢ R ji + Rij − R j1 − R1 j ⎥ ⎢ Rii − R11 ⎥
⎡ 1 1 1 ⎢ ⎥ ⎢
R = ⎢ R11 ( R12 + R21 ) ( R13 + R31 )" ( R1n + Rn1 ) # # ⎥
⎣ 2 2 2 ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥ R − R11 ⎦⎥
1 1 ⎤
T
⎣ R jn + Rnj − R j1 − R1 j ⎦ ⎣⎢ nn
× R22 ( R23 + R32 )" ( R j. j +1 + R j +1, j )" Rnn ⎥ .
2 2 ⎦ The solution is

LI ZhiGang et al. Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | Mar. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 3 | 384-392 387
 1 1 n and then eq. (3) can be written as
τk =
n+2
Rkk + ∑ ( R jk + Rkj )
2(n + 2) j =1 τ j = R ji − τ1 − ΔT1 j .
1 n n According to eq. (9), that is
− ∑
(2n + 2)(n + 2) j =1
( R jj + ∑ Rkj ). (10) 1
i =1 τ1 = R11 ,
2
The first part on the right side of eq. (10) is the effect for
and the above equation can be rewritten as
“receiving own station disseminated signal mode”, the
1
second part on the right is the effect of station K as mas- τ j = R j1 − R11 − ΔT1 j . (12)
ter station for “receiving master station disseminated 2
signal mode”, and the third part on the right is the effect The above equation is the reduction formula of ranging
for “receiving all stations disseminated signal mode”. It for “received master station disseminated signal mode”.
is obvious that the biggest effect is from the first part. For the master station, the above equation becomes one
for “received own station disseminated signal mode”.
1.3 Reduction of the pseudo-range for the “receiv-
In eq. (12), ΔT1 j is clock offset of station j relative to
ing the own station-disseminated signals mode”
master clock. For the “receiving master station dissemi-
If there is a set of receivers at a station, the receiver re-
nated signal mode”, it needs time synchronization with
ceives the signals disseminated from its own station.
high accuracy. Obviously, with such a mode, the accu-
Such manner we call it receiving own station dissemi-
racy for satellite orbit determination depends on the ac-
nated signal mode[2]. The equation of observation for
curacy of time synchronization.
such mode is
⎡ n ⎤ 2 Time transfer
⎢2 0 " 0 0⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢0 2 " 0 0 ⎥ The original idea for determination of satellite orbit by
⎢# # # #⎥ transfer is from TWSTFT. Obviously, the precise time
⎢ ⎥ synchronism at remote clocks[6,7] is available for our
A = ⎢0 0 2 0 0 ⎥ .
⎢# # method. According to eq. (2), the relation for a pair of
# #⎥
⎢ ⎥ observations (the receiver at station i receives the signals
⎢0 0 " 2 0 ⎥ from station j and the receiver at station j receives the
⎢ ⎥
⎢0 0 " 0 2⎥ signals from station i) becomes
⎣ ⎦ 1
Matrix A is that the number of unknowns is equal to the ΔTi − ΔT j = ( Rij − R ji ).
2
number of observations sets. The solution is If station j is master station and we assure that the serial
1 number of master station is 1, and then the formula for
τ i = Rii . (11)
2 reduction of time synchronism between master station
We notice that a precise time synchronism is not nec- and slave stations is
essary for “receiving own disseminated signal mode”. 1
ΔTi = ( Ri1 − R1i ). (13)
The time scale only effects the observing time. If the 2
speed of satellite is 3 km/s, then the accuracy of time Equation (13) is a formula of reduction of two-way sat-
synchronism of 1 μs is required for the accuracy of 3 mm. ellite time transfer used at present[7,8]. We notice that the
1.4 Reduction of the pseudo-range for the “receiv- effects from earth rotation and from instrument time
ing the master station-disseminated signals mode” delay in eq. (13) should be corrected in advance[9].
If only the master station disseminates the time signals
3 Observation results
and all slave stations receive the signals from master
station, such a manner we call it “receiving master sta- The method for determination of satellite orbit by trans-
tion disseminated signal mode”[1]. This system is very fer is applied in the project of the CAPS. With TDMA,
useful for the military use. up to 5 satellites can be observed at the same time. With
We assure that serial number of master station is 1 the observation experiments of the past 3 years we draw

388 LI ZhiGang et al. Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | Mar. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 3 | 384-392
a conclusion that the method for determination of satel-
lite orbit by transfer can determinate the satellite orbit
with very high accuracy and precision. The system is
very stable and it has small system error. Obviously,
such a method is suitable for determination of naviga-
tion satellite orbit. In order to value the accuracy of the
above method, we make continuous observations in the
duration of 10 days, and the accuracy and precision of
different modes has been determined.
3.1 Results for “receiving the own
tion-disseminated signals mode”
In the duration from 6 June 2005 to 13 June 2005,
Sino-1 satellite was observed continually. The 12 sets of
parameters, including 6 sets for satellite orbit parameters,
1 set for light pressure, 2 sets for experiential acceleration,
and 3 sets for transponder delay, were determined[10,11].
Table 1 shows the bias of stations for observing Sino-1
satellite in the duration from June 6 to June 13. The last
column in Table 1 shows RMS (root mean square) of
observing bias. The change is very small, from 3.7 to 8.3
cm. The RMS of average of observing bias is 5.7 cm.
Table 2 shows the average of observing residuals for
Sino-1 satellite in the duration from 6 June to 13 June.
The last column in Table 2 shows RMS of observing
residuals. The average of observing residual is 7.8 cm.
Figures 2－5 show the observing residuals for 5 stations.
The observation accuracy and precision are obtained.
sta- Tables 1 and 2 and Figures 2－5 show the accuracy of
the method for determination of satellite orbit by trans-
fer . We also research into the accuracy of prediction of
orbit[12,13]. In order to eliminate the effect of short peri-
ods, the 8 sets of parameters including 6 sets for orbit
parameters, 1 set for light pressure, and 1 set for trans-
ponder delay, are determined. We predict the orbit of 7
days using observation data of 1 day. Figure 6 shows the
difference between observation data and the predicted

Table 1 Bias of stations for 1 day data with observation of Sino-1 satellite in the duration from 6 June 2005 to 13
Name of station June 6 (m) June 7 (m) June 8 (m) June 9 (m) June 10 (m) June 11 (m) June 12 (m) June 13 (m) RMS (m)
Shanghai 3.143 3.169 3.121 3.192 3.228 3.120 3.116 3.144 0.037
Changchun −3.581 −3.564 −3.605 −3.673 −3.641 −3.518 −3.495 −3.482 0.065
Lintong 0.616 0.578 0.731 0.664 0.589 0.588 0.618 0.593 0.048
Kunming 0.554 0.500 0.492 0.598 0.529 0.479 0.397 0.317 0.083
Urumqi −0.732 −0.684 −0.739 −0.780 −0.706 −0.667 −0.636 −0.573 0.053

Table 2 Residuals of observations of 1 day data for Sino-1 satellite in the duration from 6 June 2005 to 13
Name of station June 6 (m) June 7 (m) June 8 (m) June 9 (m) June 10 (m) June 11 (m) June 12 (m) June 13 (m) Average (m)
Shanghai 0.062 0.034 0.053 0.078 0.059 0.085 0.068 0.072 0.064
Changchun 0.101 0.107 0.086 0.114 0.074 0.083 0.066 0.079 0.089
Lintong 0.065 0.056 0.077 0.082 0.073 0.069 0.043 0.048 0.064
Kunming 0.124 0.122 0.130 0.120 0.121 0.086 0.055 0.074 0.104
Urumqi 0.079 0.074 0.078 0.077 0.064 0.079 0.056 0.055 0.070
Average 0.089 0.085 0.088 0.096 0.081 0.081 0.058 0.067 0.078

Figure 2 Residuals (O-C) of 5 stations for orbit determination of Sino-1 satellite in the duration of June 6, 2005.

LI ZhiGang et al. Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | Mar. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 3 | 384-392 389
 Figure 3 Residuals (O-C) of 5 stations for orbit determination of Sino-1 satellite in the duration of June 7, 2005.

Figure 4 Residuals (O-C) of 5 stations for orbit determination of Sino-1 satellite in the duration of June 8, 2005.

Figure 5 Residuals (O-C) of 5 stations for orbit determination of Sino-1 satellite in the duration of June 9, 2005.

orbit (in the duration of 1 day observation data, 6 June).
It shows that the maximum of values is less than 13 m.
Figure 7 shows the difference between precise orbit and
the predicting orbit ((in the duration of 1 day observa-
tion data, 6 June). The maximum of differences at direc-
tion transverse is less than 37 m, at direction of normal
is less than 24 m, and at direction of radial is less than
10 m.
3.2 Results for the “receiving the master station-
disseminated signals mode”
Suppose there is only a set of transmitter at the observa-
tion net for orbit determinations and all of receivers re-
ceive the signals disseminated from master station. Such
a manner we call it “receiving master station dissemi-
nated signal mode”. The advantage of such a mode is

390 LI ZhiGang et al. Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | Mar. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 3 | 384-392
 Figure 6 Residuals (O-C) of 5 stations for predicting the orbit of Sino-1 satellite based on the observation on June 6, 2005.

Figure 7 Difference between the prediction orbits based on the observation on June 6, 2005 and the precise orbit (Sino-1).

that the transmitted signals of the satellite can be only
from the movable master station. It is very useful for
military use.
For “receiving master station disseminated signal
mode”, eq. (2) becomes
R j = R j1 − R1 − τ s − ΔT1 j .
Obviously, for the “receiving master station dissemi-
nated signal mode”, it needs time synchronization with
high accuracy.
The method for the “receiving master station dis-
seminated signal mode” is tested. The result is very ex-
citing. The accuracy of “receiving master station dis-
seminated signal mode” is nearly the same as that of
“receiving own station disseminated signal mode”. Fig-
ure 8 shows the residuals for both “received master sta-
tion disseminated signals mode” and “received own sta-
tion disseminated signals mode”. It is shown that the
differences between them are very small. The differ-
(14) ences between them are mainly from error of time syn-
chronization.
4 Conclusions
The determination of satellite orbit by transfer is an ac-
curacy and precise method for satellite orbit determina-
tion, also for time transfer. Its advantage is that both orbit
determination and time transfer are processed, separately.

LI ZhiGang et al. Sci China Ser G-Phys Mech Astron | Mar. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 3 | 384-392 391
 Figure 8 Comparison of residuals between both of the two modest.
The accuracy and precision of orbit determination is not
affected by the error of time transfer, and the dilution of
precision factors to describe the effect of geometric satel-
lite distribution on the accuracy is improved. The ranging
signals are generated and measured at ground, and the
instrumentation errors can be determined in the real time;
therefore, such a system is very stable and the observation
accuracy is improved greatly[5]. It can be used in the field
of orbit determination for craft and deep space tracking.
Its advantages are:
(a) The ranging accuracy is very high. It can be better
than 1 cm for ranging accuracy (accuracy for the USB is
about 3－5 m) and 9 cm for the residuals of orbit deter-
mination. The precision of orbit determination is better
than 2 m (for the USB is about few hundreds meters).
(b) The observation system is very stable. There are
auto-correction systems for instrumentation time delay
at stations. The instrumentations time delay is deter-
mined in the real time.
(c) It can be observed under any weather condition.
1 Li Z G, Li H X, Zhang H. The reduction of two-way satellite time
comparison. Chin Astron Astrophys, 2003, 27: 226－235
2 Merck J P, Achkar J. Typical combined uncertainty evaluation on the
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This advantage is over that of the techniques of laser
ranging satellite. The satellite management and the orbit
determination with high accuracy can be preformatted.
(d) It is suitable for deep space tracking. With spread-
spectrum technique, the disseminated power is very low,
for example, it can be less than 1 W, and it can observe
satellite at long distance.
(e) The time transfer at distance stations can be pre-
formatted.
(f) Both orbit determination and time transfer are
processed, separately. The dilution of precision is im-
proved.
The accuracy for determination of satellite orbit by
transfer is improved greatly. It meets the requirement of
orbit determination accuracy of the CAPS. Obviously, it
is valuable for application in the field of deep space
tracking of craft and orbit determination of navigation
system. We must notice the system error of instruments.
It is better to have a remote station for measuring system
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