Evaluation of CHAMP Satellite Orbit with SLR Measurements

The technique of evaluating CHAMP satellite orbit with SLR Measurements is presented. As an independent evaluation of the orbit solution, SLR data observed from January 1 to 16, 2002 are processed to compute the residuals after fixing the GFZ’s post science orbits solutions. The SLR residuals are computed as the differences between the SLR measurements minus the corresponding distances between the SLR station and the GPS\|derived orbit positions. Based on the SLR residual analysis, it is found that the accuracy of GFZ’s post science orbits is better than 10 cm and that there is no systematic error in GFZ’s post science orbits