A digital open-loop Doppler processing prototype for deep-space navigation

A prototype based on digital radio technology with associated open-loop Doppler signal processing techniques has been developed to measure a spacecraft’s line-of-sight velocity. The prototype was tested in China’s Chang’E-1 lunar mission relying on S-band telemetry signals transmitted by the satellite, with results showing that the residuals had a RMS value of ∼3 mm/s (1 σ) using 1-sec integration, which is consistent with the Chinese conventional USB (Unified S-Band) tracking system. Such precision is mainly limited by the short-term stability of the atomic (e.g. rubidium) clock at the uplink ground station. It can also be improved with proper calibration to remove some effects of the transmission media (such as solar plasma, troposphere and ionosphere), and a longer integration time (e.g. down to 0.56 mm/s at 34 seconds) allowed by the spacecraft dynamics. The tracking accuracy can also be increased with differential methods that may effectively remove most of the long-term drifts and some of the short-term uncertainties of the uplink atomic clock, thereby further reducing the residuals to the 1 mm/s level. Our experimental tracking data have been used in orbit determination for Chang’E-1, while other applications (such as the upcoming YH-1 Mars orbiter) based on open-loop Doppler tracking will be initiated in the future. Successful application of the prototype to the Chang’E-1 mission in 2008 is believed to have great significance for China’s future deep space exploration.