4 research outputs found
Intermediary LEO propagation including higher order zonal harmonics
Two new intermediary orbits of the artificial satellite problem are proposed.
The analytical solutions include higher order effects of the Geopotential, and
are obtained by means of a torsion transformation applied to the
quasi-Keplerian system resulting after the elimination of the parallax
simplification, for the first intermediary, and after the elimination of the
parallax and perigee simplifications, for the second one. The new
intermediaries perform notably well for low earth orbits propagation, are free
from special functions, and result advantageous, both in accuracy and
efficiency, when compared to the standard Cowell integration of the J2 problem,
thus providing appealing alternatives for onboard, short-term, orbit
propagation under limited computational resources.Comment: Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy: Accepted September 25,
201
HEOSAT: A mean elements orbit propagator program for Highly Elliptical Orbits
The algorithms used in the construction of a semi-analytical propagator for
the long-term propagation of Highly Elliptical Orbits (HEO) are described. The
software propagates mean elements and include the main gravitational and
non-gravitational effects that may affect common HEO orbits, as, for instance,
geostationary transfer orbits or Molniya orbits. Comparisons with numerical
integration show that it provides good results even in extreme orbital
configurations, as the case of SymbolX.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure