[Orekit Users] DSST & Sequential Estimation

[<w.grossman@ieee.org>]

If I read the source material correctly, the advantage that DSST propagation
has over Cowell is that large steps can be made while including special
perturbations like drag, solar pressure, etc.

In performing sequential estimation where updates come every one or ten
seconds, why is this large-step capability an advantage worth the complexity?
Assuming that there are even occasional measurement outages of one or two
minutes minutes, is this large-step capability worth the complexity?  What am
I missing?  Is numerical roundoff error accumulation a driving force?

In a related question, the advantage equinoctal elements have over
conventional elements isn't clear.  I understand that the conventional
elements have singularities, but so do equinoctal--just in different places.
For example, what happens when the eccentricity is near-zero and the periapse
location is unstable?  Aren't we trading one set of singularities for another
set?

Thanks.

Walter