Abstract

Preliminary Orbit Planning for a Pair of Radar-Carrying Satellites
Jane Esterline and Dr. Craig McLaughlin, Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets, the University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045

Fleets of radar-carrying satellites offer the advantages of consistent, long-term data collection and large apertures to remote sensing applications, such as the ice sheet mapping pursued by CReSIS. Possibilities of various flying formations for a proposed pair of radar-carrying satellites, a larger main satellite and a smaller CubeSat, are investigated.  A program to convert between orbital elements and Cartesian coordinates in Hill’s frame is developed.  Using constraints developed from Hill’s equations, coordinates in Hill’s frame are found for six different flying formations and converted to orbital elements.  These initial orbital elements are then propagated using the High-Precision Orbit Propagator as several parameters are varied to observe their effects on the final separation of the satellites.  The orbits are tested during several time periods with differing forecasted levels of solar activity, and the relationship between Kp and F10.7 values with final separation between the satellites is found. The effects of the different formations, particularly the difference between placing maximum orbital separation at the poles and at the equator, are examined by removing atmospheric drag from the force model.  For the in-plane formation, the beginning of some basic station-keeping work to counteract the difference between the effects of drag on each satellite is completed and future station-keeping is briefly discussed.