The Effect of Satellite Spin on Two-Way Doppler Rangerate Measurements

The rotation of a spin-stabilized satellite employing a turnstile antenna for reception and retransmission affects two-way Doppler range-rate measurements. Two different types of tracking systems are considered and, in both systems, the range-rate measurement is changed by the amount \begin{equation*} |\Delta \dot{r}| = \frac{|1 \pm 1/k|}{2} \lambda_{t}f_{s} \end{equation*} where k is the turn-around ratio of the satellite transponder, Xt is the wavelength of the ground-based transmitter, and fs is the spin rate of the satellite. The positive sign is used if the turnstile antenna elements are connected to give the same polarization for both reception and transmission. If the antenna connections result in different polarizations, the minus sign is used and the magnitude of the effect is reduced.