8.7 Prediction Tracking with Ephemeris Data

The Prediction Tracking move the antenna along a satellite position calculated from ephemeris data. The sat-nms ACU recognizes the following data formats:

• Keplerian elements : The ACU recognizes and parses keplerian elements in the NASA 2-line format (TLE) . The two lines of element definition may be prepended by an additional line with the satellite’s name. A common source for Keplerian elements in this format is <www.celestrak.com>. The sat-nms ACU uses the NORAD SDP4 model to predict a satellite’s position from this type of data.
• Intelsat elements : Intelsat publish ephemeris data (I11) for their communication satellites at their web site but also other satellite operators deliver data in this format. The data format and the mathematical model for this data is Intelsat proprietary and defined in the document IESS412.