Dynamical evolution of high area-to-mass ratio objects in Molniya orbits Original Research Article

For special demands, some notable orbit types have been developed by human, including the Molniya orbits, which have a relatively high eccentricity up to about 0.7, and a period of 12 h. Considering that space debris with high area-to-mass ratio (A/M) has been discovered, such objects may also exist in Molniya orbits due to spacecraft and upper stages fragmentation events. However, there are not sufficient studies of the complex dynamical phenomena of such orbits. These studies can enrich the knowledge about the long-term evolution of these orbits, be helpful to propose uncatalogued objects observation and identification, and also set the protected region as well as active debris removal. In this paper, the characteristics of 2:1 resonance of Molniya satellite orbits are studied. A large set of numerical simulations, including all the relevant perturbations, is carried out to further investigate the main characteristics, and special attention is payed to the dynamical evolution of objects with high A/M, particularly affected by the direct solar radiation pressure. The long-term dynamical evolution of orbital elements, as well as the dependency of lifetime on the A/M value, is discussed.