Planning for an unconventional,highly-elliptic orbit

摘要

Three areas of orbiatl design and operations for a 16 hour, highly elliptic,and highly inclined orbit with the apogee over the middle northern latitudes are discussed.The first part deals with the selection of proper initial orbital parameters and/or maintenance operations,such that a lifetime of twenty or more years can be achieved.In the second part,possibilities for a planned reentry,in order to avoid long-term space debris, are searched for.In the third part,orbital manoeuvers for arriving at the alternative target orbits from an Ariane 5 GTO,employing two very different propulsion systems,are presented.