Dynamical cartography of Earth satellite orbits

Abstract

We have carried out a numerical investigation of the coupled gravitational and non-gravitational perturbations acting on Earth satellite orbits in an extensive grid, covering the whole circumterrestrial space, using an appropriately modified version of the SWIFT symplectic integrator, which is suitable for long-term (120 years) integrations of the non-averaged equations of motion. Hence, we characterize the long-term dynamics and the phase-space structure of the Earth-orbiter environment, starting from low altitudes (400 km) and going up to the GEO region and beyond. This investigation was done in the framework of the EC-funded "ReDSHIFT" project, with the purpose of enabling the definition of passive debris removal strategies, based on the use of physical mechanisms inherent in the complex dynamics of the problem (i.e., resonances). Accordingly, the complicated interactions among resonances, generated by different perturbing forces (i.e., lunisolar gravity, solar radiation pressure, tesseral harmonics in the geopotential) are accurately depicted in our results, where we can identify the regions of phase space where the motion is regular and long-term stable and regions for which eccentricity growth and even instability due to chaotic behavior can emerge. The results are presented in an "atlas" of dynamical stability maps for different orbital zones, with a particular focus on the (drag-free) range of semimajor axes, where the perturbing effects of the Earth's oblateness and lunisolar gravity are of comparable order. In some regions, the overlapping of the predominant lunisolar secular and semi-secular resonances furnish a number of interesting disposal hatches at moderate to low eccentricity orbits. All computations were repeated for an increased area-to-mass ratio, simulating the case of a satellite equipped with an on-board, area-augmenting device.

arXiv comment25 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (10)

• NOTE: Explaining why the Uranian satellites have equatorial prograde orbits despite the large planetary obliquity
• The dynamical structure of the MEO region: long-term stability, chaos, and transport
• Chaos in navigation satellite orbits caused by the perturbed motion of the Moon
• Why do Earth satellites stay up?
• On the dynamics of space debris: 1:1 and 2:1 resonances
• Solar Radiation Pressure Resonances in Low Earth Orbits
• From order to chaos in Earth satellite orbits
• Natural highways for end-of-life solutions in the LEO region
• Dynamical Lifetime Survey of Geostationary Transfer Orbits
• Exponential growth of eccentricity in secular theory

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Natural highways for end-of-life solutions in the LEO region
• A deep dive into the $2g+h$ resonance: separatrices, manifolds and phase space structure of navigation satellites
• Towards a sustainable exploitation of the geosynchronous orbital region
• Medium Earth Orbit dynamical survey and its use in passive debris removal
• Chaotic transport of navigation satellites
• Dynamical Lifetime Survey of Geostationary Transfer Orbits
• Detection of separatrices and chaotic seas based on orbit amplitudes
• Averaged Solar Torque Rotational Dynamics for Defunct Satellites
• On the predictability of Galileo disposal orbits
• Exploiting dynamical perturbations for the end-of-life disposal of spacecraft in LEO
• Semi-analytical estimates for the orbital stability of Earth's satellites