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Orbit error is a major component in the overal l error budget of al l altimeter satell ite missions. Jason-1 is no exception and a 1 cm radial orbit accuracy goal has been set, which represents a significant improvement over what is currently being achieved for TOPEX/Poseidon (TP). Studies have demonstrated this goal is being met and that the orbit accuracies can be improved (Luthcke et al. 2003 and Haines et al. 2004). However, the challenge is to continually achieve this high accuracy, verify the perfo rmance, and characterize and quantify the remaining errors over the l ifetime of the mission. The computation, verification and error characterization of such high accuracy orbits requires the reduction and analysis of all available tracking data (GPS, SL R, DORIS and altimeter). Current analysis also indicates the history of TP orbits can be further improved employing new solution strategies developed and tested on Jason-1. Our research focuses on the calibration, validation and improvement of the comp