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Satellite Orbits & GPS Ephemerides

Professor Terry Moore
Professor of Satellite Navigation
Institute of Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy
The University of Nottingham
Satellite Orbits

• LEO Low Earth Orbit

• GEO Geostationary Orbit
• IGSO Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit

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• ICO Intermediate Circular Orbit
• MEO Medium Earth Orbit
• HEO Highly Elliptical Orbit
Sun synchronous orbit
• Sun synchronous orbits
MEO, ICO
GEO
~
~

Sun
HEO LEO
IGSO
Kepler’s Laws of Orbital Motion

• The orbit is elliptical, in a plane passing through the

Earth’s centre of mass, which is at one of the foci of
the ellipse.

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• The radius vector from the mass centre to the
satellite will sweep out equal areas of the ellipse in
equal time.
• The cube of the ratio of the two semi-major axes of
the orbital ellipses of any two satellites is equal to
the square of the ratio of the two corresponding
orbital periods. 3 2
 a1   t1  GM
    n
 a2   t2  a3
Kepler’s First Law

The orbit is elliptical, in a plane passing

through the Earth’s centre of mass,
which is at one of the foci of the ellipse

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i

Created using UNREGISTERED Top Draw 1/31/95 12:32:44 PM

Kepler’s Second Law
The radius vector from the mass centre
to the satellite will sweep out equal areas
of the ellipse in equal time

t1+t © IESSG t2
Perigee Apogee
t2+t
t1

Created using UNREGISTERED Top Draw 1/31/95 4:13:28 PM

Kepler’s Third Law

The cube of the ratio of the two semi-major axes of the

orbital ellipses of any two satellites is equal to the square
of the ratio of the two corresponding orbital periods

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Keplerian Orbital Elements

Semi major axis a

Eccentricity e
Right ascension of ascending node 

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Inclination
True anomaly
Argument of perigee
i
f


Mean anomaly M
Eccentric anomaly E
Mean motion n
Keplerian Orbital Elements

Orbital
Plane Satellite

© IESSG f a(1-e)
Perigee
 Equator

i
Ascending node
Vernal
Equinox
GPS Broadcast Ephemeris

• Keplerian Elements
Some describe a smooth mean orbit (M0, i0,0, , a, e)
Some allow for changes in this orbit (n, di/dt, d/dt )
Some allow perturbations (sin & cos terms)

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• New values every hour (valid for 4 hours)
• New upload every 24 hours (for 36 hours)
• Accuracy
Originally of the order of 10-20m
Could have been degraded by Selective Availability
Broadcast Ephemeris Elements
t0 : Reference time of the ephemeris
M0 : Mean anomaly at t0
i0 : Inclination of orbit at t0
 : Argument of perigee

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0 : Angle between Greenwich meridian at start of
GPS week and the ascending node
e : Eccentricity of the orbital ellipse
a : Semi-major axis of the orbital ellipse
n : Correction to computed mean motion
di /dt : Rate of change of i with time
d/dt : Rate of change of  with time
Cuc , Cus : Amplitude of sine and cosine correction
Crc , Crs : (perturbation) terms to argument of latitude (u),
Cic , Cis : geocentric radius (r) and inclination (i)
GPS Broadcast Ephemeris

• Reference orbit computed, lasting 40 days, is

computed every two weeks, by dynamical orbit
determination

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• Pseudo-range and pr, over 30 secs, are normal
pointed every 15 mins.
• MCS uses data from the previous week in a
Kalman filter.
• Predicts forward X,Y, Z positions and clock
corrections.
• Keplerian elements are computed from X, Y, Z, for
every hour, for each satellite, and uploaded at
least once a day.
GPS Operational Control
Segment

Ground Monitor
Antenna Station

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Master Control
Station (Schriever AFB)

 Master Control Station (MCS): satellite control, system operations

 Alternate Master Control Station (AMCS, Vandenberg AFB, 2004)
 Monitor Station (MS): Collect range data, monitor navigation signal
 NIMA Tracking Station (TS): Collect range data, monitor nav signal
 Ground Antenna (GA): Transmit data/commands, collect telemetry
GPS Ephemerides

• Satellite Coordinates
– Required for Position Computation
• Broadcast Ephemeris

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– Transmitted in real-time by GPS satellites
– Keplerian parameters
• Precise Ephemeris
– International GPS Service (IGS)
– Available 1 or 2 days after the event
– Computed by several processing centres from
global tracking data
– Predicted precise ephemeris also available
Contact Details

Professor Terry Moore

IESSG

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The University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham
NG7 2RD
United Kingdom

• Telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 3886

• Fax: +44 (0) 115 951 3881
• Email: terry.moore@nottingham.ac.uk
• WWW: www.nottingham.ac.uk/iessg