Abstract
Abstract Artificial sun-synchronous orbits are suitable for remote sensing satellites and useful in giving accurate surface mapping. To design such orbits accurately with arbitrary orbital elements, three control strategies are provided with the consideration of main zonal harmonics up to J 4 and solar radiation pressure (SRP). In this paper, the continuous variable low-thrust control is used as a way to achieve these artificial orbits and given by electric propulsions rather than chemical engines to enlarge lifespan of the spacecraft. The normal continuous low-thrust control is used to illustrate the control strategies. Furthermore, formulas for refinement of normal control thrusts are applied to overcome errors due to approximations. The results of the simulation show that the control strategies explained in this paper can realize sun-synchronous orbits with arbitrary orbital parameters without side effects and the effect of solar radiation pressure is very small relative to main zonal harmonics. A new technique is suggested, ASSOT-3, to minimize fuel consumption within one orbital period more than others. This technique is based on computing the root mean square of the rate of ascending node longitude instead of the average.
Highlights
At the equator, a satellite can pass overhead at the same local time in each revolution through what is called Sunsynchronous orbits (SSO) by a combination of altitude and inclination in a certain way
The results of the simulation show that the control strategies explained in this paper can realize sun-synchronous orbits with arbitrary orbital parameters without side effects and the effect of solar radiation pressure is very small relative to main zonal harmonics
This paper focuses on artificial SSOs around the Earth with main zonal harmonics up to J4 (Rahoma 2014; Rahoma and El-Salam 2014) and solar radiation pressure (SRP)
Summary
A satellite can pass overhead at the same local time in each revolution through what is called Sunsynchronous orbits (SSO) (or heliosynchronous orbits) by a combination of altitude and inclination in a certain way. (Wang et al 2011) studied SSOs and frozen orbits around the Earth They provided several control strategies to realize these orbits using continuous lowthrust. They used amending methods to eliminate the residual secular growth and proposed that the normal control thrust is a function of semimajor axis and eccentricity. Despite (Wu et al 2014) did not use amending methods to obtain accurate values, they developed their research to include J3 and J4 They studied orbits around the Earth and Mars. Celestial Mechanics software package were used for this simulation They proposed that the dynamic evolutions were depending on the initial values of LAN and passages through the shadow of Earth lead to long-period perturbations of the semimajor axis. The Simulation shows that ASSOT-3 is the best selection to save more energy with no side effect on other parameters
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