Speed and Accuracy Tests of the Variable-Step Störmer-Cowell Integrator

Abstract

The variable-step Stormer-Cowell integrator is a non-summed, double-integration multi-step integrator derived in variable-step form. The method has been implemented with a Shampine-Gordon style error control algorithm that uses an approximation of the local error at each step to choose the step size for the subsequent step. In this paper, the variable-step Stormer-Cowell method is compared to several other multi-step integrators, including the fixed-step Gauss-Jackson method, the Gauss-Jackson method with s-integration, and the variable-step single-integration Shampine- Gordon method, in both orbit propagation and orbit determination. The results show the variable-step Stormer-Cowell method is comparable with Gauss-Jackson using s-integration, except in high drag cases where the variable-step Stormer-Cowell method has an advantage in speed and accuracy.