Abstract
Satellite moving under the gravitational field of Earth deviates from its two-body elliptic orbit, due to the combined effects of the gravitational field of Earth, atmospheric drag, solar radiation pressure, third-body gravitational effects, etc. This paper utilizes the KS regular element equations to solve Newtonian equations of motion to obtain numerical solution with respect to perturbing forces, like, Earth's gravity (includes zonal, sectorial and tesseral harmonics terms), atmospheric drag and solar radiation pressure. Effectiveness of the theory is illustrated by comparing the results with some of the existing theories in literature.Â
Highlights
The effect of various perturbing forces like the shape of the Earth, atmospheric drag, the Sun's radiation, attraction due to Sun and Moon, the Earth's magnetic field, etc. causes the geocentric space object to deviate from its two-body elliptic orbit
For near Earth’s satellite orbit, the perturbations due to asphericity of the Earth and atmospheric drag plays a major role, but for high altitude orbits, solar radiation pressure is more important than atmospheric drag
A kφ ⃗rsat−⃗rsun m where, cr is the constant of reflectivity of the satellite, A is the area of the transverse section of the satellite perpendicular to the disturbing force, m is the satellite mass, k is the ratio of the solar constant and the speed of the light, φ is the shadow function, which has value
Summary
The effect of various perturbing forces like the shape of the Earth, atmospheric drag, the Sun's radiation, attraction due to Sun and Moon, the Earth's magnetic field, etc. causes the geocentric space object to deviate from its two-body elliptic orbit. The effect of various perturbing forces like the shape of the Earth, atmospheric drag, the Sun's radiation, attraction due to Sun and Moon, the Earth's magnetic field, etc. To predict the motion of the satellite precisely, a mathematical model for these forces must be selected properly for integrating the resulting differential equations of motion. The classical Newtonian equations of motion, which are nonlinear, are not suitable for long-term integration for computing accurate orbit. The equations are everywhere regular comparing to the classical Newtonian equations, which are singular at the collision of two bodies. In this paper a detailed study is carried out for orbit prediction using KS differential equations by including the non-spherical gravitational potential (zonal, sectorial and tesseral harmonic terms) of the Earth, atmospheric drag and solar radiation pressure as perturbing forces. To know the effectiveness of the theory, the results are compared with some of the existing theories in literature
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