Radio science requirements and the end-to-end ranging system

Radio science ranging requirements negotiated between past and present flight projects and the DSN have generally focused on just the DSS and spacecraft hardware. All elements in the end-to-end system are analyzed and considered in terms of the error hierarchy. The end-to-end system is defined and examined as it applies to the generation of radio science ranging requirements. The variability of the performance levels of the system elements is emphasized with respect to the radio science experiment being performed and the DSN-spacecraft frequency band configuration.