Abstract This paper investigates the effect of planetary oblateness and solar radiation pressure on the orbits of high area-to-mass spacecraft. A planar Hamiltonian model shows the existence of equilibrium orbits with the orbit apogee pointing towards or away from the Sun. These solutions are numerically continued to non-zero inclinations and considering the obliquity of the ecliptic plane relative to the equator. Quasi-frozen orbits are identified in eccentricity, inclination and the angle between the Sun-line and the orbit perigee. The long-term evolution of these orbits is then verified through numerical integration. A set of ‘heliotropic’ orbits with apogee pointing in the direction of the Sun is proposed for enhancing imaging and telecommunication on the day side of the Earth. The effects of J 2 and solar radiation pressure are exploited to obtain a passive rotation of the apsides line following the Sun; moreover the effect of solar radiation pressure enables such orbits at higher eccentricities with respect to the J 2 only case.
Highlights ► Effect of Earth oblateness and solar radiation pressure on orbits of high area-to-mass spacecraft. ► Through planar Hamiltonian find equilibrium orbits with the apse-line passively sun-synchronous. ► Planar solutions numerically continued to non-zero inclinations considering obliquity of ecliptic over the equator. ► Identify quasi-frozen orbits in eccentricity, inclination and angle between Sun-line and perigee. ► Heliotropic orbits with Sun-pointing apogee for enhancing imaging and telecoms on the dayside of the Earth
Orbital dynamics of high area-to-mass ratio spacecraft with J 2 and solar radiation pressure for novel Earth observation and communication services
Acta Astronautica ; 81 , 1 ; 137-150
2012-07-09
14 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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