Probing the flyby anomaly with the future STE-QUEST mission

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate that the flyby anomaly, an unexpected acceleration detected in some of the gravitational assists of the Galileo, NEAR, Cassini and Rosetta spacecraft, could be probed by accurate orbital tracking available in the proposed Space-Time Explorer and Quantum Equivalence Principle Space Test (STE-QUEST); following a recent work, we focus on the similarity between a hyperbolic flyby and the perigee passage in a highly elliptic orbit of the latter, as well as its Global Navigation Satellite System precise orbital determination capabilities.