Initial Orbit Design from Ground Track Points

摘要

MOTIVATED by the need for optimal orbit design algorithmsnfor remote sensing spacemissions, the problemof orbit designngiven three ground sites on the ground track is addressed.Given threenground sites of interest, characterized by their right ascensions andnlatitudes, the objective is to calculate an orbit such that its groundntrack passes through the three sites within a given time frame. Thenproblemhas been formulated, and two solution algorithms have beenndeveloped. The first algorithm finds the exact orbit for which thenground track passes through the given ground sites; the secondnalgorithm calculates an approximate solution. The approximatensolution can be used as an initial guess in the first algorithm for anneffective search for the exact solution. This note describes the case ofnthree sites.