STATIONKEEPING TECHNIQUES FOR SPACECRAFT IN INCLINED GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT

摘要

A constellation of Earth-orbiting spacecraft, the constellation having an orbital maneuver lifetime life (OML), includes a first spacecraft disposed in a first orbit and a second spacecraft disposed in a second orbit, each of orbit being substantially circular with a radius of approximately 42,164 km and having a respective inclination with respect to the equator specified within a range of 10° to 20°. The first orbit has, at beginning of life (BOL), a first right ascension of ascending node (BOL-RAAN1) and the second orbit has, at BOL, a second RAAN (BOL-RAAN2) the BOL-RAAN1 and the BOL-RAAN2 being separated by a first angular separation Δ-RAAN1. A first stationkeeping delta-V (ΔV1) applied over the OML to the first spacecraft, in combination with a second delta-V (ΔV2) applied over the OML to the second spacecraft, maintains the Δ-RAAN1 approximately constant and an actual inclination within specification, and ΔV1 approximately equals ΔV2.