Flight Performance Analysis of the GRACE Inter-Satellite Ranging Instrument

GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) is the first dedicated gravity mapping mission. Its primary measurements are the distance changes between two co-orbiting low earth satellites. GRACE is a joint development by NASA and German DLR and was launched in March 2002. GRACE improves the Earth gravity model accuracy by nearly two factor of magnitude over pre-launch models. After brief description of the GRACE primary instrument, inter-satellite ranging system, its flight status and preliminary performance evaluation is presented. Ranging system error models, which were not included in the pre-launch performance model and design specifications, are identified through analyzing the flight data. Base on this analysis, future research topics on the GRACE instrument performance analysis are discussed.