Space operations will be the mainstream and necessity of future space activities. More and more orbital vehicles for space operations can not be described by the Kepler's laws due to man-control, and their orbits belong to the non-Keplerian orbits. The problem of non-Keplerian orbits is discussed in this paper. First, three examples of non-Keplerian orbits, the spiral climbing orbit, hanging orbit, and three-body orbit are analyzed. Then, the limitations of Keplerian theory are analyzed, while the special and general methods for studying non-Keplerian orbits are discussed. Finally, the main research areas of non-Keplerian orbits are suggested. The concept of non-Keplerian orbits put forward in this paper can help to understand and investigate the essence of motion of spacecrafts, and help to establish the basement of future space technology.
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