Fundamentals of Orbit

OPS-G Forum 05.05.2006

Uwe Feucht

JFK/RB, 2005-11-30

Background

This Presentation is compiled from: Lecture on Satellite Technique, TU Umea/TU Lulea Spacecraft Operations Course, DLR

Content

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Mathematical Description of Satellite Orbits Orbit Perturbations Orbit Analysis Orbit Change Maneuvers Orbit Maintenance Typical Types of Orbits Typical Flight Dynamics Tasks

1. Mathematical Description of Satellite Orbits

Orbital Parameters (1) Geometry in the Orbital Plane

a = e = = b = p = r = E = A = P = = A.N. u = = S = semi-major axis (numerical) eccentricity argument of perigee semi-minor axis parameter (of a cone) (orbit-) radius Earth center apogee perigee true anomaly =ascending node +v argument of latitude satellite position

b
p

ae

w
8

A.N.

1. Mathematical Description of Satellite Orbits

Orbital Parameters (2)

Geometry in Space
p
3

bit Or
P p Equator

~ p A.N.

= inclination = right ascension of the ascending node = argument of perigee ~ = Vernal equinox (cut of Earth equator and ecliptic) A.N. =ascending node P = perigee N = north pole B = orbital plane

1. Mathematical Description of Satellite Orbits

Orbital Parameters (3)

Commonly used Orbital Parameters
Keplerian-Elements a e i semi-major axis eccentricity inclination right ascension of the ascending node = argument of perigee M/ = mean/true anomaly = = = =

(used for visualization, not applicable for computation because of singularities for e = 0, i = 0, i = 180)

State Vector
(Position-, Velocity Vector)

& r, r = v

1. Mathematical Description of Satellite Orbits

Mean vs. osculating Elements

Looking at a real orbit shows that at each instant the satellite motion can be described by a different set of orbital elements. These instantaneous parameters are called osculating elements. An average over the osculating parameters yield the mean elements

1. Mathematical Description of Satellite Orbits

a e
N

i
i

1. Mathematical Description of Satellite Orbits

1. Mathematical Description of Satellite Orbits

Satellite Velocities
Velocity on elliptical path:
V=

2 1 r a

GTO: Perigee: Apogee: LEO: GEO: Moon:

~10.0 km/s ~ 1.7 km/s ~ 7.6 km/s ~ 3.0 km/s ~ 1.0 km/s

Velocity on circular path:

VC =

1st cosmic velocity:

VC1 =

RE

= 7.905 km / s

2nd cosmic velocity (escape):

VC2 =

2 = 2 VC1 = 11.180 km / s RE

2. Orbit Perturbations

Sources of Perturbations
Earth Gravitational Field Air Drag Solar Radiation Sun/Moon Influence Thruster Activity others (e.g. planets, albedo)

2. Orbit Perturbations

Earth Gravitational Field (1)

Effect on nodal line
Due to Earth ellipsoid, rotation of the nodal line around the pole axis
1 & C J2 cos(i ) 3.5 a

Orbital Elements (Example)

a= 7400 km i = 57 J2 = 0.1 (unrealistic!) Duration: 1 day

2. Orbit Perturbations

Earth Gravitational Field (2) Sun-synchronous Orbits

6000

Requirement:
Rotation of the orbital plane around the pole axis = Mean motion of the Earth around the Sun

5000

4000 Altitude [km]

3000

Node Regression:
2000

1000

1 2 & C cos(i ) 3.5 = year a

90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180

0 Inclination [deg]

2. Orbit Perturbations

Air Drag
Generally decrease of semi-major axis For elliptical orbits decrease of apogee height For circular orbits decrease of orbital height Decrease of orbital period (increase of satellite velocity) Depending on Solar activity (Solar Flux)

3. Orbit Analysis

High Eccentric Orbits

Motion of a satellite with respect to the pericenter Used for transfer orbits to GEO (e=0.7) transfer orbits to Moon (e=0.966) scientific missions

3. Orbit Analysis

Circular Orbits (e 0.0)

Motion of a satellite with respect to equator crossings draconic Motion Used for remote sensing satellite orbits (LEO) manned missions
o space stations MIR and ISS o STS (Space Shuttle)

orbit selection of remote sensing satellites

4. Orbit Change Maneuvers In-Plane Maneuver: Change of Perigee or Apogee Height

Example: Lift of perigee (e.g. from TO into GEO) ra = 42164 km (TO apogee radius) aTO= 24400 km (TO semi-major axis) aGEO=42164 km (GEO semi-major
axis)
2 1 vTO = ra aTO
V VGEO

VTO

= 1.603 km/s
GEO TO

vGEO =

aGEO

= 3.075 km/s

v = 1.472 km/s

4. Orbit Change Maneuvers

Out-Of-Plane Maneuver
v v 2 1 v1 = v 2 = v = r a i v = 2 v sin 2
2 1

V1
i

V2

Example: GTO (Geostationary Transfer Orbit) a = 24400 km, r= 42164 km, i = 7 (Ariane Launch)

v = 1.603 km/s v = 0.195 km/s

5. Orbit Maintenance

Purpose of orbit maintenance maneuvers Compensate orbit decay Keep ground track stable Keep time relation of orbit stable Keep orbit form stable Achieve mission target orbit

5. Orbit Maintenance TerraSar-X Orbit Maintenance Maneuver

200

Orbit Characteristics Sun-synchronous Repeat cycle: 11 days Requirement Tolerance interval for nodal longitude: s = 200 m

100 [m ] 0 -100 -200 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Time [days] 70 80 90 100

160

a [m]

1 v Velocity Increment : vt = a 2 a
Use of predicted flux values for orbit propagation

120

80

40

0 0 1 2 3 M ET [y] 4 5

5. Orbit Maintenance

6. Typical Types of Orbits

GEO IO
r = a = 42164 km h = 35786 km U = 24 hours

LEO
a
r = a = 6678... ca. 7878 km h = 300... ca. 1500 km U = 90 min

GTO
a = 24370 km h = 200... 35786 km U = 10 hours

6. Typical Types of Orbits

Example: Ground Track for 20 Inclination

7. Flight Dynamics Typical Tasks

Ground Station Coverage (1)

Ground Track for Polar Orbit with 87 Inclination (a)

7. Flight Dynamics Typical Tasks

Ground Station Coverage (2)

Ground Track for Polar Orbit with 87 Inclination (b)

7. Flight Dynamics Typical Tasks

Ground Station Coverage (3)

Visibility Plot

7. Flight Dynamics Typical Tasks

Orbit Determination Principles (1)

Mepunkte zi z vy ry vx r rz vz z

Measurement Points zi

rx

berechnete Computed Bahn (r,v)

orbit

Position vector r Velocity vector V

Orbit estimation by averaging:

[zi fi (r, V )]2 = Min

i

7. Flight Dynamics Typical Tasks

Orbit Determination Principles (2)

Satellite Tracking relative velocity measurement (Doppler) distance measurement (Ranging)

Range, Doppler

Angle Measurements (Auto-track)

h
(Elevation)

A
(Azimuth)

7. Flight Dynamics Typical Tasks

Station Keeping
13.0 O 19.2 O 28.5 O 7.0 O 0.6 W

DFS 2

ASTR A 1A .. 1D

EUTELSAT II-F1 HOT BIRD 1

EUTELSAT II-F4 TV-SAT 2

Control box Geostationary Orbit altitude: 36000 km Orbit determination and corrections performed by control center

Orbit perturbations caused by Earth, Sun and Moon

100 - 150 km ( 0.1)