The Computation of Optimum Orbital Elements Derived from a Single Coincident Observation by Two Receiving Stations of the Naval Space Surveillance System

摘要

This thesis is concerned with an investigation into a method of determining the orbital elements of a passive artificial earth satellite using information obtained from a single coincident satellite observation of short time duration. This method would introduce weighting factors determined, for example, by the accuracy with which the system can measure the parameter in question. This method is then used to study the effect that the addition of doppler shift and bistatic range measurements have on the accuracy of the resulting orbital elements.