Abstract
This paper, based on the analytical theory of orbital perturbation, describes a computation method in which the perturbation of atmospheric drag adopts a mean value of numerical integration on one revolution and then one can make use of various atmospheric models to calculate the orbital perturbation. By using this method for three kinds of upper atmospheric models (CIRA-72, CIRA-86, DTM) we have analysed the effects of atmospheric drag perturbation on orbital drift and lifetime of the space station at the height of 400 km and estimated the energy needed to correct orbital drift. The results show that the orbital drifts of the space station for three different atmospheric models are different and increase with time. The effect of solar activity on orbital drift is obvious. This paper gives useful results for the design of the orbit and estimate of the energy for three atmospheric models and various solar F 10.7 mean fluxes.
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