Previous studies have shown that disposal orbits for the medium Earth orbit constellations can be unstable and undergo significant long-term eccentricity growth. This can lead to repenetration of the constellations by disposed vehicles, thereby posing a collision risk. The study presented here investigated the possibility of diluting disposal orbit collision risk by exploiting long-term eccentricity growth. The Galileo constellation was selected as an example. Various disposal strategies were considered. It was found that high eccentricity growth strategies can reduce the combined constellation and intra-graveyard collision risk relative to a minimum eccentricity growth strategy. High eccentricity growth strategies also offer the option of significantly increasing the percentage of disposed vehicles that will re-enter the atmosphere within 200 years after disposal rather than remain on orbit for thousands of years. High eccentricity growth strategies thereby offer an effective and potentially inexpensive option for medium Earth orbit debris mitigation.
Dilution of Disposal Orbit Collision Risk for the Medium Earth Orbit Constellations
2005
39 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Unmanned Spacecraft , Spacecraft Trajectories & Flight Mechanics , Navigation Systems , Debris , Earth orbits , Navigation satellites , Eccentricity , Constellations , Global positioning system , Risk , Perigee , Instability , Collisions , Dilution , Growth(General) , Disposal , Long range(Time) , Galileo satellites , Satellite collisiions , Disposal orbits , Disposed vehicles , Meo(Medium earth orbit) , Satellite constellations , Debris mitigation , Space debris
DILUTION OF DISPOSAL ORBIT COLLISION FOR THE MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT CONSTELLATIONS
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2005
|Long-Term Collision Risk Prediction for Low Earth Orbit Satellite Constellations
Online Contents | 2000
|Long-term collision risk prediction for low Earth orbit satellite constellations
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2000
|Low earth orbit constellations: orbit control or not
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1993
|Low Earth Orbit Constellations Design with Good Dilution of Precision - Abstract
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1996
|