How to detemine an initial orbit?

Can Orekit determine an initial orbit for a satellite without providing an initial orbit, only given some observational data (time T, distance R, azimuth A, and elevation E)?

Hi @lebronjames

Congrats for the gold medal at the Olympic games! :basketball:

Yes, it can. You can look at the Initial Orbit Determination (IOD) algorithms provided in Orekit. For your case (i.e., Az/El + Ranging) we have 3 IOD methods:

  • Laplace
  • Gooding
  • Gauss

Laplace and Gauss only use 3 angles. Godding algorithm uses 3 angles + 2 ranging.
I can recommend you to start by using the Gauss method which provides an interesting accuracy.

Some documentation:

Best regards,
Bryan

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:smiley:
I finally have an explanation for the success and accuracy of the American team’s shots. The guys calculate the trajectory of the ball with Orekit. As a result, the success rate for 3-point shots is hardly surprising.

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Hi,bcazabonne!
I looked at the IOD package link, but I couldn’t find the underlying implementation of the estimate function in the Gauss algorithm. Do I need to write the underlying code for the estimate function myself, or is it located elsewhere?
Cheers,
James

The estimate method is already available in the IodGauss class.