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Orbital inclination change

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Help Orbital inclination change is an orbital maneuver aimed at changing the inclination of an orbiting body's orbit. This
About Wikipedia maneuver is also known as an orbital plane change as the plane of the orbit is tipped. This maneuver requires a change
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in the orbital velocity vector (delta v) at the orbital nodes (i.e. the point where the initial and desired orbits intersect, the
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line of orbital nodes is defined by the intersection of the two orbital planes).
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In general, inclination changes can take a very large amount of delta v to perform, and most mission planners try to
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avoid them whenever possible to conserve fuel. This is typically achieved by launching a spacecraft directly into the
Related changes desired inclination, or as close to it as possible so as to minimize any inclination change required over the duration of
Upload file the spacecraft life. Planetary flybys are the most efficient way to achieve large inclination changes, but they are only
Special pages effective for interplanetary missions.
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Page information Contents
Wikidata item 1 Efficiency
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2 Inclination entangled with other orbital elements
Print/export 3 Calculation
Create a book 4 Circular orbit inclination change
Download as PDF 5 Other ways to change inclination
Printable version 6 See also
Languages 7 References
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Lietuvių Efficiency [ edit ]
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The simplest way to perform a plane change is to perform a burn around one of the two crossing points of the initial and
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final planes. The delta-v required is the vector change in velocity between the two planes at that point.

However, maximum efficiency of inclination changes are achieved at apoapsis, (or apogee), where orbital velocity is
the lowest. In some cases, it can require less total delta v to raise the satellite into a higher orbit, change the orbit plane
at the higher apogee, and then lower the satellite to its original altitude.[1]

For the most efficient example mentioned above, targeting an inclination at apoapsis also changes the argument of
periapsis. However, targeting in this manner limits the mission designer to changing the plane only along the line of
apsides.[citation needed]

For Hohmann transfers, the initial orbit and the final orbit are 180 degrees apart. Because the transfer orbital plane has
to include the central body, such as the Sun, and the initial and final nodes, this can require two 90 degree plane
changes to reach and leave the transfer plane. In such cases it is often more efficient to use a broken plane maneuver
where an additional burn is done so that plane change only occurs at the intersection of the initial and final orbital
planes, rather than at the ends. [2]

Inclination entangled with other orbital elements [ edit ]

An important subtlety of performing an inclination change is that Keplerian orbital inclination is defined by the angle
between ecliptic North and the vector normal to the orbit plane, (i.e. the angular momentum vector). This means that
inclination is always positive and is entangled with other orbital elements primarily the argument of periapsis which is in
turn connected to the longitude of the ascending node. This can result in two very different orbits with precisely the
same inclination.

Calculation [ edit ]

In a pure inclination change, only the inclination of the orbit is changed while all other orbital characteristics (radius,
shape, etc.) remains the same as before. Delta-v ( ) required for an inclination change ( ) can be calculated as
follows:

where:

is the orbital eccentricity

is the argument of periapsis
is the true anomaly
is the mean motion
is the semi-major axis

For more complicated maneuvers which may involve a combination of change in inclination and orbital radius, the
amount of delta v is the vector difference between the velocity vectors of the initial orbit and the desired orbit at the
transfer point.

Circular orbit inclination change [ edit ]

Where both orbits are circular (i.e. = 0) and have the same radius the Delta-v ( ) required for an inclination change
( ) can be calculated using:

Where:

is the orbital velocity and has the same units as [1]

Other ways to change inclination [ edit ]

Some other ways to change inclination that do not require burning propellant (or help reduce the amount of propellant
required) include

aerodynamic lift (for bodies with an atmosphere, such as the Earth)

tethers
solar sails

Transits of other bodies such as the Moon can also be done.

None of these methods will change the delta-V required, they are simply alternate means of achieving the same end
result and, ideally, will reduce propellant usage.

See also [ edit ]

Inclination
Spaceflight
Orbital maneuver portal

References [ edit ]
a b
1. ^ Braeunig, Robert A. "Basics of Space Flight: Orbital Mechanics" .
2. ^ http://issfd.org/ISSFD_2007/3-1.pdf

v · t· e Gravitational orbits
Orbits
Box · Capture · Circular · Elliptical / Highly elliptical · Escape · Graveyard · Hyperbolic trajectory · Inclined /
General
Non-inclined · Osculating · Parabolic trajectory · Parking · Synchronous (semi · sub) · Transfer orbit
Geosynchronous · Geostationary · Sun-synchronous · Low Earth · Medium Earth · High Earth · Molniya ·
Geocentric
Near-equatorial · Orbit of the Moon · Polar · Tundra · Two-line elements

About other points Areosynchronous · Areostationary · Halo · Lissajous · Lunar · Heliocentric · Heliosynchronous

Parameters
Shape/Size Eccentricity · Semi-major axis · Semi-minor axis · Apsides

Orientation Inclination · Longitude of the ascending node · Argument of periapsis · Longitude of the periapsis

Position Mean anomaly · True anomaly · Eccentric anomaly · Mean longitude · True longitude

Variation Orbital period · Mean motion · Orbital speed · Epoch

Maneuvers
Collision avoidance (spacecraft) · Delta-v · Delta-v budget · Bi-elliptic transfer · Geostationary transfer · Gravity assist · Gravity turn ·
Hohmann transfer · Low energy transfer · Oberth effect · Inclination change · Phasing · Rocket equation · Rendezvous ·
Transposition, docking, and extraction
 Other orbital mechanics topics
Celestial coordinate system · Characteristic energy · Ephemeris · Equatorial coordinate system · Ground track · Hill sphere ·
Interplanetary Transport Network · Kepler's laws of planetary motion · Lagrangian point · n-body problem · Orbit equation ·
Orbital state vectors · Perturbation · Retrograde motion · Specific orbital energy · Specific relative angular momentum

List of orbits

Categories: Astrodynamics Orbital maneuvers

This page was last modified on 30 September 2015, at 16:52.

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