Title :
Special inclinations for satellite formations in near circular orbits
Author :
Xu, Guangyan ; Du, Zhi
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Autom., Shenyang Aerosp. Univ., Shenyang, China
Abstract :
The possibility to obtain a natural periodic satellite formation is investigated. This paper shows that such formations under J2 perturbation have four possible inclinations, which are the inclination at equatorial orbit (i = 0°/180°), inclination at polar orbit (i = 90°), the critical inclination (i = 63.4°/116.6°) and the “succeeding critical inclination” (i = 49.1°/130.9°). Periodic and quasi-periodic relative orbits are introduced based on the special inclinations.
Keywords :
aerospace control; artificial satellites; critical inclination; equatorial orbit; natural periodic satellite formation; near circular orbits; periodic relative orbits; polar orbit; quasi-periodic relative orbits; special inclinations; succeeding critical inclination; Aerodynamics; Earth; Equations; Orbits; Satellites; Space vehicles; Trajectory; J2 Perturbation; Satellite Formation; Special Inclinations;
Conference_Titel :
Control and Decision Conference (CCDC), 2012 24th Chinese
Conference_Location :
Taiyuan
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4577-2073-4
DOI :
10.1109/CCDC.2012.6244589
