Analysis of Celestial Gravity Influence on Heliocentric Formation Flying of Gravitational Wave Observatory

Abstract

A mathematical model of celestial gravity influence on heliocentric formation flying of gravitational wave observatory is established for Taiji in this paper. Influences of planets, the Moon, dwarf planets and asteroids in the solar system on heliocentric formation flying of gravitational wave observatory are analyzed by simulation. To analyze the influence of asteroids on the stability of constellation, a double screening method is proposed, which takes the orbit distance and magnitude of asteroids into consideration comprehensively. The method avoids a large number of calculations on asteroids and is able to quickly estimate the influence of the relative acceleration of asteroids on constellation. The influences of initial phase angles on heliocentric formation-flying satellites are also analyzed. Simulation results show that the Earth, the Venus and the Jupiter have great influences on heliocentric formation flying of gravitational wave observatory, and their cumulated relative acceleration is -2.78×10^-11 km·s^-2. The relative acceleration caused by dwarf is 1.25×10^-17 km·s^-2. The relative acceleration caused by asteroids is 1.1180×10^-15 km·s^-2. Moreover, influences of gravity perturbations of solar system bodies on formation-flying satellites are insensitive to initial phase angles.