Related papers: Orbit determination for next generation space cloc…
Gaia will perform astrometric measurements with an unprecedented resolution. Consequently, the electronics of the Astro instrument must time tag every measurement with a precision of a few nanoseconds. Hence, it requires a high stability…
The knowledge of the orbit or the ephemeris uncertainty of asteroid presents a particular interest for various purposes. These quantities are for instance useful for recovering asteroids, for identifying lost asteroids or for planning…
The MICROSCOPE space mission aims to test the Equivalence Principle with an accuracy of $10^{-15}$. The drag-free micro-satellite will orbit around the Earth and embark a differential electrostatic accelerometer including two cylindrical…
Recent advances with space navigation technologies developed by NASA in space-based atomic clocks and pulsar X-ray navigation combined with past successes in autonomous navigation using optical imaging, brings to the forefront the need to…
The historical development of ground based astronomical telescopes leads us to expect that space-based astronomical telescopes will need to be operational for many decades. The exchange of scientific instruments in space will be a…
We present methodology and mission results from orbit determination of Planet Labs nanosatellites and differential-drag control of their relative motion. Orbit determination (OD) is required on Planet Labs satellites to accurately predict…
Certain forms of uncertainty that robotic systems encounter can be explicitly learned within the context of a known model, like parametric model uncertainties such as mass and moments of inertia. Quantifying such parametric uncertainty is…
Gravitational-wave astronomy has developed enormously over the last decade, with the first detections and continuous development across broad frequency bands. However, the decihertz range has largely been left out of this development.…
Some 50~years ago, physicists, and after them the entire world, started to found their time reference on atomic properties instead of motions of the Earth that have been in use since the origin. Far from being an arrival point, this…
We propose and analyze a Cesium lattice optical clock (CLOC) which has the potential for high performance and simple operation in a compact form factor using a forbidden optical transition in Cs atoms at 685 nm. Cs atoms are trapped in a 3D…
Our spacetime is filled with gravitational wave backgrounds that constitute a fluctuating environment created by astrophysical and cosmological sources. Bounds on these backgrounds are obtained from cosmological and astrophysical data but…
In this paper we investigate the opportunities offered by the new Earth gravity models from the dedicated CHAMP and, especially, GRACE missions to the project of measuring the general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect with a new Earth's…
Optical atomic clocks are poised to redefine the SI second, thanks to stability and accuracy more than one hundred times better than the current microwave atomic clock standard. However, the best optical clocks have not seen their…
While building up a catalog of Earth orbiting objects, if the available optical observations are sparse, not deliberate follow ups of specific objects, no orbit determination is possible without previous correlation of observations obtained…
Clock-comparison experiments using a satellite platform can give Planck-scale sensitivity to many parameters for Lorentz and CPT violation that are difficult to measure on Earth. A discussion of the theoretical framework for such tests is…
In this article, theory-based analytical methodologies of astrophysics employed in the modern era are suitably operated alongside a test research-grade telescope to image and determine the orbit of a near-earth asteroid from original…
Recent investigations (e.g. Han et al. 2001) have shown that fitting the Hipparcos observations with an orbital model when the astrometric wobble caused by the companion is below the noise level can have rather unexpected consequences. With…
We discuss the possibility of an autonomous navigation system for spacecraft that is based on pulsar timing data. Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars that are observable as variable celestial sources of electromagnetic radiation.…
In 2022 China Space Station (CSS) will be equipped with atomic clocks and optical clocks with stabilities of $2 \times 10^{-16}$ and $8 \times 10^{-18}$, respectively, which provides an excellent opportunity to test gravitational redshift…
Optical atomic clocks promise timekeeping at the highest precision and accuracy, owing to their high operating frequencies. Rigorous evaluations of these clocks require direct comparisons between them. We have realized a high-performance…