Minimum Number of Satellites for Periodic Coverage (Minsta Antal Satelliter foer Periodvis Taeckning)

摘要

Usually the case for continuous coverage is treated in the literature, i.e., answering the question how many satellites are needed to obtain continuous coverage with satellites from different altitudes. The disadvantage of continuous coverage is that it often gives a very high number of satellites. Here the problem of obtaining a periodic coverage of a site is examined, meaning a certain number of observations of a specified site per time interval. This reduces the number of satellites required substantially. One can obtain periodic coverage of a site from LEO (Low Earth Orbit) with as few as one or two satellites if the revisit time is three days or longer.