Adjustable box-wing model for solar radiation pressure impacting GPS satellites

For this study GPS orbits are generated based on one year (2007) of tracking data, with the processing scheme derived from the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE). Two solutions are computed, one using the adjustable box-wing model and one using the CODE empirical model. Using this year of data the estimated parameters and orbits are analyzed. The performance of the models is comparable, when looking at orbit overlap and orbit prediction errors. Nevertheless, the models show important differences between orbits at the 1-2 cm level and total accelerations (up to 5×10-9m/s2). The differences are mainly due to the fact that the box-wing model is based on the physical interaction between solar radiation and satellite, while the CODE empirical model is not.