Abstract: Radiation pressure modelling has been a research focus in precise orbit determination of navigation satellites. In the development of radiation pressure modelling techniques, the analytical approach and the empirical approach have been used. The empirical approaches are used more widely than the analytical approach due to simplicity and less knowledge about the space vehicle needed in developing the models. However, the orbit derived from empirical models still have space to be improved. To bring in more information about the space vehicle in developing radiation pressure models is a way to tackle the flaws of empirical approaches. Specifically, China's BeiDou system completed its constellation construction in 2020, and started providing services to global users. The orbit accuracy of BeiDou-3 satellites is an important factor for precision applications. Better radiation pressure models also contribute to improving orbit accuracy of BeiDou-3 satellites. A review of radiation pressure modelling for navigation satellites can pave the way for developing better modelling techniques. In this paper, radiation pressure is classified into "active" and "passive" cases according to whether the radiation flux is generated by the space vehicle surfaces. Then, the empirical models, semi-analytical models and analytical models are discussed in detail. The radiation pressure modelling approaches for BeiDou satellites are also reviewed. The unresolved problems in radiation pressure modelling are stated based on the above discussions. Considering both the limitations of analytical approaches and empirical approaches, we suggest that a combination of analytical approach and empirical approach could be a modelling strategy for BeiDou satellites and other navigation satellites. The empirical parameters should not be estimated blindly in precise orbit determination.

Key words: BeiDou satellites, radiation pressure modelling, precise orbit determination, physical model, empirical SRP model