Preliminary error budget of a GNSS-R spaceborne mission

Reflectometry using Global Navigation Satellite System's (GNSS) opportunity signals was originally conceived for altimetry [1], but it has been demonstrated today that it can be applied to sea state determination, soil moisture, vegetation, snow monitoring... So far, GPS signals scattered over the Earth's surface have been cross-correlated with a local replica of the transmitted signal (typically the only GPS available: the C/A code) shifted in frequency (Δf
_d
) and in delay (τ). However, to achieve the full potential (bandwidth) of these signals the direct and reflected signals can be directly cross-correlated, but in this case, high gain antennas are required to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. Therefore these antennas must be steerable so as to track the direct satellite and the specular reflection point. This is the concept of the European Space Agency PARIS In Orbit Demonstrator (IoD) mission [2], a new concept that was demonstrated experimentally for the first time in 2010 [3]. This work deals with the analysis of the preliminary instrument error budget of this mission to address the critical design parameters.