ORBITAL MECHANICS AND LAUNCHERS

ORBITAL MECHANICS
To achieve a stable orbit around the earth, a spacecraft

must first be beyond the bulk of the earths atmosphere, i.e., in what is popularly called space.
According to Newton's law of motion F=ma. Where a =

acceleration, F= force acting on the object and m= mass of the object. It helps us understand the motion of satellite in a stable orbit.(neglecting any drag or other perturbing forces).
(F=ma) states that the force acting on a body is equal to

the mass of the body multiplied by the resulting acceleration of the body.

Contin.

Thus, for a given force, the lighter the mass of the

body, the higher the acceleration will be.

When in a stable orbit, there are two main forces

acting on a satellite: a centrifugal force due to the kinetic energy of the satellite, which attempts to fling the satellite into a higher orbit, and a centripetal force due to gravitational attraction of the planet about which the satellite is orbiting, which attempts to pull the satellite towards the planet.
If these two forces are equal the satellite remains in a

stable orbit.

Forces involved in orbital mechanics

1.Gravitational force= attraction

between any two objects, given by

2.Centrifugal force=an outward-

directed force that normally balances the inward-directed There are two relevant centripetal force forces involved in this problem

Orbital rotation of satellite

 The standard acceleration due to gravity at the earth surface is

981 cm/s2. The value decreases with height above the earths surface. The acceleration, a, due to gravity at a distance r from the center of the earth is a=/r2 km/ s2 Where the constant is the product of the universal gravitational constant G and the mass of the earth ME. The product GME is called keplers constant and has the value 3.98 x 105 km3/s2. The universal gravitational constant is G=6.672x 10-11 Nm2/kg2. The mass of the earth ME =5.97 x 1024 kg. Since fore= mass x acceleration, the centripetal force acting on the satellite, Fin is given by Fin= m x (/r2) =m x (G ME /r2 )

Contin.

In a similar fashion, the centrifugal acceleration is given by

a=v2 /r Which will give the centrifugal force, Fout as Fout=m x(v2 /r ) If the forces of the satellite are balanced Fin=Fout m x (/r2)=m x(v2 /r ) Hence the velocity v of the satellite in a circular orbit is given by v=(/r)1/2

 If the orbit is circular, the distance traveled by a satellite in one orbit around a planet is 2r , where r is the radius of the orbit from the satellite to the center of the planet.
Since distance divided by velocity equals time to travel the

Contin.

distance, the period of satellites orbit, T, will be T= (2r )/v = (2r )/[(/r)1/2] T=(2r 3/2)/(1/2)

How do satellites stay in orbit?

Satellites stay in orbit due to the balance of two factors:

i. Velocity (causes centrifugal force) and ii. Gravitational pull between the Earth and the satellite.

Keplers Three laws of planetary motion

Keplers 1st law: The orbit of any smaller body about a

larger body is always an ellipse, with the center of mass of the larger body as one of the foci. Keplers 2nd law: The orbit of the smaller body sweeps out equal areas in equal time. Keplers 3rd law: The square of the period of revolution of the smaller body about the larger body equals a constant multiplied by the third power of the semimajor axis of the orbital ellipse. That is, T2=(42a3)/ where a T is the orbital period, a is the semimajor axis of the orbital ellipse, and is the Kepler's constant.

Describing the orbit of the satellite

The lengths a and b of the semimajor and semiminor axes are given by a = p/(1-e2) and b = a(1-e2)1/2

a2 b2 e a

The point in the orbit where the satellite is closest to the earth is called the perigee and the point where the satellite farthest from the earth is called the apogee. The perigee and apogee are always exactly opposite to each other.

 The orbital period of GEO satellite 23h 56 min 4.1 s is one

sidereal day. A sidereal day is the time between consecutive crossings of any particular longitude on the earth by any star, other than sun.
The mean solar day of 24h is the time between any

consecutive crossings of any particular longitude by the sun, and is the time between successive sunrises (or sunsets) observed at one location of earth, averaged over an entire year.
Because the earth moves round the sun once per 365

days, the solar day is 3.94 min longer than sidereal day.

Locating the satellite with respect to earth

Z Satellite

perigee 0 i Node equator

Vernal equinox

Greenwich i Inclination Right Ascension of ascending node Argument of perigee True anomaly

Orbital elements
a e v i
= Semi-major axis (usually in kilometers or nautical miles) = Eccentricity (of the elliptical orbit) = True anomaly The angle between perigee and satellite in the orbital plane at
a specific time

= Inclination The angle between the orbital and equatorial planes

Vernal Equinox vector to the ascending node on the equatorial plane

= Right Ascension (longitude) of the ascending node The angle from the

= Argument of perigee
perigee

The angle measured between the ascending node and

The satellite moves upward through the equatorial plane at the ascending node and downward trough the equatorial plane at the descending node.

LOOK ANGLE DETERMINATION

Calculating Look Angle

Coordinate System

Coordinate System

Satellite Coordinates

Review of Geometry

 El/Az Angle Elevation = angle above horizon Azimuth = angle from north

27

Geometry of Elevation Angle

Central Angle

Elevation Angle Calculation

Example: Elevation Angle for GEO Satellite

Using rs = 42,164 km and re = 6,378.14 km gives d = 42,164 [1.0228826 -0.3025396 cos()]1/2 km Which finally gives the elevation angle

Azimuth Angle Calculation

More complex approach for non-geo satellites. Different

formulas and corrections apply depending on the combination of positions of the earth station and subsatellite point with relation to each of the four quadrants (NW, NE, SW, SE).

Its calculation is simple for GEO satellites

Azimuth Angle Calculation for GEO Satellites

SUB-SATELLITE POINT Equatorial plane, Latitude Ls = 00 Longitude ls
EARTH STATION LOCATION Latitude Le Longitude le

Azimuth Angle for GEO sat.

Azimuth Angle for GEO sat.

Azimuth Angle for GEO sat.

Example for Look Angle Calculation of a GEO satellite

Example (Contd.)

El=5.85o

Example (Contd.)

Example (Contd.)

ORBITAL PERTURBATIONS
Theoretically, an orbit described by Kepler is ideal as

Earth is considered to be a perfect sphere and the force acting around the Earth is the centrifugal force. This force is supposed to balance the gravitational pull of the earth.
In reality, other forces also play an important role and

affect the motion of the satellite. These forces are the gravitational forces of Sun and Moon along with the atmospheric drag.
Effect of Sun and Moon is more pronounced on

geostationary earth satellites where as the atmospheric drag effect is more pronounced for low earth orbit satellites.

 As the shape of Earth is not a perfect sphere, it causes some

variations in the path followed by the satellites around the primary. As the Earth is bulging from the equatorial belt, and keeping in mind that an orbit is not a physical entity, and it is the forces resulting from an oblate Earth which act on the satellite produce a change in the orbital parameters.
This causes the satellite to drift as a result of regression of

the nodes and the latitude of the point of perigee (point closest to the Earth). This leads to rotation of the line of apsides. As the orbit itself is moving with respect to the Earth, the resultant changes are seen in the values of argument of perigee and right ascension of ascending node.

 Due to the non-spherical shape of Earth, one more effect

called as the Satellite Graveyard is seen. The nonspherical shape leads to the small value of eccentricity (10-5) at the equatorial plane. This causes a gravity gradient on GEO satellite and makes them drift to one of the two stable points which coincide with minor axis of the equatorial ellipse.
Working satellites are made to drift back to their position

but out-of-service satellites are eventually drifted to these points, and making that point a Satellite Graveyard.

Atmospheric Drag For Low Earth orbiting satellites, the effect of atmospheric drag is more pronounces. The impact of this drag is maximum at the point of perigee. Drag (pull towards the Earth) has an effect on velocity of Satellite (velocity reduces).
This causes the satellite to not reach the apogee height

successive revolutions. This leads to a change in value of semi-major axis and eccentricity. Satellites in service are maneuvered by the earth station back to their original orbital position.

ORBIT DETERMINATION
The control earth stations used to measure the angular

position of the satellites also carryout range measurements using unique time stamps in the telemetry stream or communication carrier. These earth stations generally referred to as the TTC&M(telemetry tracking command and monitoring) stations of the satellite network.

LAUNCHES AND LAUNCH VEHICLES

Stage 1
First stage

Stage 2

Stage 3
A typical booster that was used on the GSLV

LAUNCHES AND LAUNCH VEHICLES

Geo Transfer Orbit

NOTE
The earth station can see a satellite over a

geostationary arc bounded by +- (81.30) about the earth stations longitude.

Launch vehicle selection factor

Price/cost Reliability-Recent launch success/failure history Dependable launch schedule- Urgency of the

customer Performance Spacecraft fit Safety issues Launch site location Availability-launch site; vehicle; schedule; Market conditions-what the market will bear

ORBITAL EFFECTS IN COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE

Doppler shift

Range variations
Solar eclipse Sun transit outage

Solar eclipse
An equinox occurs twice a year (around 20 March and

22 September), when the plane of Earth's equator passes the center of the Sun. At this time the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun. The term equinox can also be used in a broader sense, meaning the date when such a passage happens. The name "equinox" is derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night), because around the equinox, night and day are about equal length.

Sun transit outage

A sun outage, sun transit or sun fade is an

interruption in or distortion of geostationary satellite signals caused by interference from solar radiation. The effect is due to the sun's radiation overwhelming the satellite signal.