Precision navigation of spacecraft requires accurate knowledge of small
forces, including the recoil force due to anisotropies of thermal radiation
emitted by spacecraft systems. We develop a formalism to derive the thermal
recoil force from the basic principles of radiative heat exchange and
energy-momentum conservation. The thermal power emitted by the spacecraft can
be computed from engineering data obtained from flight telemetry, which yields
a practical approach to incorporate the thermal recoil force into precision
spacecraft navigation. Alternatively, orbit determination can be used to
estimate the contribution of the thermal recoil force. We apply this approach
to the Pioneer anomaly using a simulated Pioneer 10 Doppler data set.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Published versio