초록 ▼

The invention incorporates an eccentric conformance module that determines time and position for a satellite. The eccentric conformance module eliminates the necessity of computing an eccentric anomaly for non-circular orbits by relying on a comparison of a circular orbit and application of a genera

The invention incorporates an eccentric conformance module that determines time and position for a satellite. The eccentric conformance module eliminates the necessity of computing an eccentric anomaly for non-circular orbits by relying on a comparison of a circular orbit and application of a general power equation. The eccentric conformance module produces coordinates in a reference frame relating to an eccentric conformance model. The invention resolves these coordinates through transformation to a common reference frame by computing the transformation between the conformance displacement angle and the true anomaly. Calculations derived from the eccentric conformance module are applicable for ground-based and space-based systems. Applications include determination of line-of-sight pointing for antennas and predictions of satellite positions for intercept or rendezvous transfers and for safe orbit trajectories. All such computations are simplified with the use of the eccentric conformance method.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. An apparatus for tracking a satellite, the apparatus comprising:a processor programmed to execute modules for processing orbit data corresponding to a first position of a first satellite to determine spatial coordinates therefor, the processor further programmed to exec

[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. An apparatus for tracking a satellite, the apparatus comprising:a processor programmed to execute modules for processing orbit data corresponding to a first position of a first satellite to determine spatial coordinates therefor, the processor further programmed to execute an orbital transformation module;a memory device operably connected to the processor for storing executable and operational data structures, the data structures comprising:an eccentric conformance module, executable by the processor to apply conformance rules to produce first satellite coordinates as a function of time;an orbital transformation module, executable by the processor to transform the satellite coordinates into common reference coordinates; anda parameter module containing the orbit data relating a first satellite position to a parent body position.