COMPARISON OF RELATIVE PERTURBATIONS ON SPACECRAFT EARTH ORBITS

In this paper, the individual relativistic perturbations are simulated and compared, for two orbit cases: (1) a medium altitude eccentric earth orbit (MEO), and (2) a Molniya orbit. The simulations‘ results are presented in both graphical and statistical form. The simulation data reveals that the specific forces that arise from the relativistic perturbations, do manifest as variations in the classical orbital elements. The simulated data also show that the specific forces exhibit similar effects that materialize from commonly considered perturbations that are used in orbit design and maintenance.