Open loop tracking in 1st Chinese Mars exploration mission: Yinghuo-1 Martian orbiter

The first Chinese Mars probe, Yinghuo-1, is planned to launch in October 2009, together with the Russia Phobos-Grunt landing mission. YH-1 will explore the space weather of Mars, and test deep space communication and navigation techniques. Differences from common deep space probe, the astronomical Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), open loop tracking method, like DOR/DOR, seam beam VLBI and 1-way Doppler, will be used to determine the spacecraft orbit and position.