A Novel Approach for Launch Opportunity Calculation for High Inclined Orbit Mission

Abstract

This paper presents an elegant method to calculate the launch opportunities for injection of satellite into the highly inclined orbit by a launch vehicle from a specific launch site. The launch vehicle should inject the satellite in the desired orbit satisfying all orbital parameters. The launch window for a highly inclined orbit is highly critical since desired Right Ascension of Ascending Node (RAAN) and Equatorial Crossing time should be as close as the desired parameter, which if not achieved will result in the orbital maneuver requirement from the satellite. Most of the small satellites cannot afford to carry out an orbital manoeuver due to lack of adequate fuel on-board satellite. This becomes still critical in case of multiple satellite launch from a same launch vehicle. In order to directly meet the plane of the orbit from a given launch site the launch vehicle must be launched inside a narrow window. An approach to calculate launch azimuth for a desired orbital inclination and launch time for desired right ascension of ascending node with a given launch site is described in this paper. This paper also describes an efficient and generic method by considering orbital geometry to calculate an optimal launch window which can take care of orbital parameter requirements of multiple satellites from a single launch vehicle also.