Two Line Elements have a quantifiable uncertainty that grows over time
the verdict
SUPPORTED
the evidence backs this
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
2 sources for · 0 against
AS REPORTEDno primary record reached; this is what the reporting says
Reference materials indicate that Two Line Elements possess limited accuracy and that their uncertainty depends heavily on factors including the time elapsed since the epoch.
# What is the accuracy / uncertainty of Two Line Elements (TLEs)?
Tags: iss, artificial-satellite, orbital-elements, calculation
- Score: 19
- Views: 10111
- Answers: 2
- Answered: yes
- Asked by: James C (1951 rep)
- Asked: 2014-12-03
- Edited: 2022-09-27
- Site: space
## Question
I use TLE sets supplied on this website to find the future position of satellites (well usually just the ISS) using the SGP4 propagation method implemented in C++.
My question is:
What is the accuracy of the satellite position in the supplied TLEs in terms of kilometers or error % ? And also if it is possible to estimate the error of the satellite's position after propagation with using SGP4 for a given time interval ?
Any sources or references supporting the answers would also be very much appreciated.
Edit: It is really not important for the error estimation to be precise and result of a rigorous analysis. But it should be based on some valid assumptions.
## Answers
### Answer by pericynthion (score: 16 [ACCEPTED])
It depends on a lot of factors, including:
Time since epoch
Altitude
Atmospheric density variations
Spacecraft maneuvers
Accuracy, number and distribution of observations used to f
Two-Line Element Uncertainty for GOCE Statistical Re-entry Predictions | ESA Proceedings Database Skip to main content
# Two-Line Element Uncertainty for GOCE Statistical Re-entry Predictions
Jacco Geul1,Erwin Mooij1,Ron Noomen1
Delft University of Technology1
## Document details
Publishing year2017 PublisherESA Space Debris Office Publishing typeConference Name of conference7th European Conference on Space Debris
Pagesn/a Volume
7
Issue
1
Editors
T. Flohrer, F. Schmitz
Download paper
## Abstract
TLEs are important for many Space Situational Awareness (SSA) studies, because of their widespread availability. For many objects such as rocket bodies, stages, and defunct satellites TLEs present the only source of orbital states. Despite their importance, TLEs suffer from some major drawbacks: they are of limited accuracy (especially compared to GPS/TIRA), are often mistagged, miss manoeuvres, and lack covariance information. Although the TLEs are openly available, their observations and corresponding covariance are not. The proper understanding and subsequent modeling and estimation of these uncertainties is paramount for previously mentioned SSA activities.
The aim of th
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