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Effect of Environmental Forces on the Attitude of Gravity Orientated Satellites

Part 1. High Altitude Orbits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

V. J. Modi  and
R. C. Flanagan
V. J. Modi
Affiliation:
The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
R. C. Flanagan
Affiliation:
The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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Extract

There are several situations of practical importance where it is essential to maintain a satellite in a fixed orientation relative to the earth. Of the numerous methods proposed for such station keeping, gravity gradient stabilisation has gained considerable attention primarily due to the passive nature of the system. The pioneering work for pure gravity orientated satellites was carried out by Klemperer who obtained the exact solution for planar librations of a dumbbell satellite in circular orbit, and by Baker who found periodic solutions of the problem for small orbit eccentricity. Schechter attempted, with limited success, to extend Klemperer's solution to non-circular orbital motion by perturbation methods. Zlatousov et al and, more recently, Brereton and Modi successfully employed numerical methods, involving the use of the stroboscopic phase plane, to analyse motion in the large for orbits of arbitrary eccentricity.

Type
Technical Notes
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 75 , Issue 731 , November 1971 , pp. 783 - 793
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1971 

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