Geodetic Return From a Space-Station Clock Ensemble: Potential Resolution Along a Low Earth Orbit

A clock ensemble in low Earth orbit samples the potential along its ground track many times a day, linking ground stations that have no direct line of sight. The geodetic value of such a mission depends on the resolution per pass and on how the sampling accumulates. This design study computes the orbital sampling for a station at four hundred and twenty kilometres, converts two ensemble performance levels into height resolution, and discusses the link, not the space clock, as the pacing item. The computed results, taken from the deposited script, are as follows in summary: The computed period_min is 92.8. The computed velocity_km_s is 7.66. The computed ground_track_km_per_orbit is 4e+04. The computed height_res_m_at_1e16 is 0.916. The computed height_res_m_at_1e17 is 0.0916. The computed orbits_per_day is 15.5. The study is a computation from stated assumptions, not a measurement, and its figures should be read at the precision those assumptions support. SIMULATED, NOT MEASURED.