Abstract In order to analyse the contribution of inter-satellite ranging observation to the BeiDou regional navigation satellite system (BDS-2) satellite orbit determination under the condition of regional ground tracking stations, first, the methods of using the observation model, the dynamic parameters dilution of precision (DPDOP), and the satellite position dilution of precision (SPDOP) to describe the contribution of inter-satellite ranging observation to orbit determination accuracy are proposed. Then, based on the measured observation data of the regional ground tracking stations located in China, as well as simulated inter-satellite ranging observation data, the contribution of inter-satellite ranging observation to orbit determination accuracy for the three types of satellites used by BDS-2 is analysed. The results show that the inter-satellite ranging observation improves the solution strength of the dynamic parameters by adding redundant observations without adding new parameters to be estimated, which effectively improves the orbit determination accuracy of the along-track component of Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite and the cross-track and radial components of Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGSO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites. In addition, under the condition of the regional tracking stations, the inter-satellite ranging observation compensates for the disadvantage that the satellite cannot be tracked by the whole arc segment. The accuracy and continuous stability of the orbit determination solution and the geometry structure of satellites that can be observed by stations and other satellites are significant improved, for which the average DPDOP values of GEO, IGSO, and MEO satellites are improved 50.2%, 73.0%, and 72.1%, respectively.

Highlights • Simulated ISL observations improves the orbit determination accuracy of BDS-2. • Simulated ISL observations compensates for the observed arc of satellites. • Simulated ISL observations improves the observed structure of satellites.