SATELLITE GEODESY BASED ON STELLAR ORIENTATION OF LINES BETWEEN UNKNOWN STATIONS.

The research note represents one step of the theory for the problem of determining the ground station positioning with respect to the center of earths mass, the world geocentric geodetic system, and the mathematical figure of the earth. The theory is based solely on optical observations of any type of satellite and, therefore, is independent of any distance measurement. In the research note, formulations are given for determining the orientation of lines with respect to the mean equator and mean equinox for a given epoch. The station-to-satellite directions resulting from photographs are used for making the orientation of lines between unknown stations. From among lines so oriented, the astronomic azimuth and zenith distance between nonintervisible stations can be computed, and intercontinental astronomic azimuth ties can be achieved. Author