Reply to post: "but it's the orbits of the satellites carrying that needs ongoing tweakage"

Euro space agency's Galileo satellites stricken by mystery clock failures

John Smith 19 Gold badge

"but it's the orbits of the satellites carrying that needs ongoing tweakage"

Sort of.

Each GPS satellite downloads an "almanac" of data that accelerates the process of finding other satellites. These include the orbital elements of those satellite. These drift slightly over quite a short period of time. That is why they have to be updated.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon