A constellation of Earth-orbiting spacecraft includes a first spacecraft disposed in a first orbit, a second spacecraft disposed in a second orbit, and a third spacecraft disposed in a third orbit. Each of the first orbit, the second orbit and the third orbit is substantially circular with a radius of approximately 42,164 km, and has a specified inclination with respect to the equator within a range of 5° to 20°. The first orbit has a first right ascension of ascending node RAAN1, the second orbit has a second RAAN (RAAN2) approximately equal to RAAN1+120°, and the third orbit has a third RAAN (RAAN3) approximately equal to RAAN1+240°. A fourth spacecraft is disposed in a fourth orbit that has a period of approximately one sidereal day, an inclination of less than 2°, a perigee altitude of at least 8000 km, and an eccentricity between approximately 0.4 and 0.66.
EFFICIENT ORBITAL STORAGE AND DEPLOYMENT FOR SPACECRAFT IN INCLINED GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT
2017-08-31
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B64G Raumfahrt , COSMONAUTICS |
Efficient orbital storage and deployment for spacecraft in inclined geosynchronous orbit
European Patent Office | 2019
|EFFICIENT ORBITAL STORAGE AND DEPLOYMENT FOR SPACECRAFT IN INCLINED GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT
European Patent Office | 2017
|