Preliminary Design of Satellite Constellations for a Brazilian Regional Positioning System by Means of an Evolutionary Algorithm

摘要

This paper presents and discuss some possibilities concerning to the design of a Regional Positioning System - RPS satellite constellation to cover the Brazilian territory. The paper presents an overview of constellation design possibilities for a hypothetical Brazilian Regional Positioning System. Since Brazil is located near the equator plane, the idea is to think about a RPS satellite constellation that takes advantage of this fact in order to design a cost effective regional system that aims at covering primarily only the Brazilian territory. In this sense, three satellite constellation types were considered. The first one is based only on geosynchronous satellites. The second one is based on Medium Earth Orbit - MEO satellites placed in the equator plane or near to it, and the third one is composed by Low Earth Orbit - LEO satellites with low to moderate orbital plane inclination angles. A preliminary optimization process was run in order to obtain an initial guess of a good design. The obtained design constellations are presented and discussed.