Patent ID: 7725259

Claim:
A system for determining a trajectory of a satellite comprising: a processor; and a computer program stored in a computer-readable medium, and executable on the processor, the computer program operable, when executed on the processor to: determine a first estimated trajectory of a satellite using a first sequential mode of operation; perform a thruster burn as a correction maneuver for the satellite; provide a real-time assessment of the correction maneuver by utilizing a second sequential mode of operation, the second sequential mode of operation comprising: receiving a data point from an uplink/downlink facility; determining, using a least squares algorithm, a second estimated trajectory and an estimated thruster performance of the satellite based upon the received data point; and determining, using the least squares algorithm, a trajectory error of the satellite based upon the received data point, the trajectory error including a vector quantity indicating position error in space and a scalar error value; and repeat the second sequential mode of operation if the trajectory error is above a specified threshold level; and repeat the first sequential mode of operation if the trajectory error is below the specified threshold level.