Sun synchronous orbit definition of sun synchronous orbit. Or in smaller words, the orbit above and the spinning planet below, go around once in the same amount of time. The third matlab script calculates the osculating orbital inclination required for a sunsynchronous orbit. Abcs of sunsynchronous orbit mission design ronald j. To open the orbit designer, click the button on the spacecraft properties window. These satellites orbit at an altitude between 700 to. A sun synchronous orbit is designed to drift slowly so as to keep in sync with the earths orbit around the sun. Sun synchronous orbit synonyms, sun synchronous orbit pronunciation, sun synchronous orbit translation, english dictionary definition of sun synchronous orbit. In order for an orbit to be sun synchronous, the node line must move eastward at. A sunsynchronous orbit is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes.
A sunsynchronous orbit sso, also called a heliosynchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit that combines altitude and inclination in such a way that the satellite passes ov. Synchronous orbit simple english wikipedia, the free. The synchronization of rotation and orbital period means that, for an observer on earths surface, an object in geosynchronous orbit returns to exactly the same position in the sky after a period. This means that if the orbit has an inclination and eccentricity equal to 0, then the satellite will appear from.
Sun synchronous orbits for the earth solar power satellite system. Geosynchronous orbits are those orbits in which object revolves in the same time as taken by earth rotation on its axis. This code is a matlab script that can be used to design and analyze sunsynchronous orbits. A sun synchronous orbit is an orbit around the earth, where the movement of the satellite always looks the same when viewed from the sun.
And how is it related to the other orbital parameters like eccentricity, inclination etc. To maintain a sunsynchronous orbit over a long timeperiod, a satellite has to actively correct its position now and then. Procession of orbital plane synchronized with the earths rotation so. Example of a sunsynchronous polar orbit with an orbital altitude of 705 km above the earths surface, an orbital peri od of 98. A synchronous orbit has a period equal to the rotational period of the body which contains the barycenter of. They can orbit at a low altitude, or thousands of miles out in space. Sunsynchronous orbits have been used extensively in meteorological and remote sensing satellite missions. A synchronous orbit is an orbit in which an orbiting body usually a satellite has a period equal to the average rotational period of the body being orbited usually a planet. Synchronous orbit definition at, a free online dictionary with pronunciation, synonyms and translation. Pdf development of an architecture of sunsynchronous orbital. In order for an orbit to be sun synchronous, the node line must move eastward at a rate of one revolution per year. The synchronous orbit also happens to be the approximate boundary between the sheltered nearearth magnetosphere and the outer portions where substorms and other active changes occur.
The big advantage of sun synchronous orbits is that the. Example of a sunsynchronous polar orbit with an orbital altitude of. On sunsynchronous orbits and associated constellations. The satellite is placed on a circular sunsynchronous orbit at 800 km height. A sun synchronous orbit exploits the precession of nodes due to the latitudinal perturbation in the earths gravitational field. Sun synchronous orbits have been used extensively in meteorological and remote sensing satellite missions.
A study was conducted to demonstrate the development of an extension of the sun synchronous orbit, which as per definition is a finite resource similar to a geostationary orbit, the extension to. A sun synchronous orbit sso, also called a helio synchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit that combines altitude and inclination in such a way that the satellite passes ov. Geometry of a sunsynchronous orbit landsat science. Mar 27, 20 sun synchronous orbit is a special kind of orbit.
Molniya orbits and sunsynchronous orbit types of orbits. By choosing the orbit inclination right, the propagation rate of the nodes can be synchronised with the suns node propagation about 1 degreeday. Definition of sunsynchronous orbit in the dictionary. This paper contains the preliminary ideas on how to design orbits and constellations associated with extended sun synchronicity concepts. Pdf sunsynchronous orbit sso satellites serve many important functions, primarily in the areas of earth reconnaissance and weather. A circular geosynchronous orbit has a constant altitude of 35,786 km 22,236 mi, and all geosynchronous orbits share that semimajor axis. A synchronous orbit has a period equal to the rotational period of the body which contains the barycenter of the orbit. As the name suggests, it has something to do with syncing up with the sun. The multi sunsynchronous orbits are introduced first.
The paper will develop the background and information necessary to explain what a sunsynchronous orbit is how it works. A sunsynchronous orbit also called a heliosynchronous orbit is an orbit around earth with the right combination of altitude and inclination such that the earths oblateness causes the orbit. Orbit design for thai space consortium satellite mdpi. California the sun synchronous orbit is one of the most frequently used orbits for earth science missions. A sunsynchronous orbit sso, also called a heliosynchronous orbit is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planets surface at the same local mean solar time. The paper will develop the background and information necessary to explain what a sun synchronous orbit is how it works. Sunsynchronous orbit definition of sunsynchronous orbit. A sun synchronous orbit sso, also called a heliosynchronous orbit is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planets surface at the same local mean solar time. A sunsynchronous orbit is an orbit that passes over a given point on earth at the same mean solar time. The orbit, at a height of about 860 km oneseventh of an earth radius, takes about 102 minutes and carries the satellite over a different swathe of territory at each pass, so every point on the surface is overflown every 12 hours, at the.
Jun 14, 2016 apparently there is a special orbit called sunsynchronous orbit, which is designed such that the satellite always crosses a given latitude on the day side of the earth at the same time of. Sunsynchronous orbit no eclipse period for satellites. Slot architecture for separating satellites in sun. Like a polar orbit, the satellite travels from the north to the south poles. Dec 19, 2018 a geosynchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit that has the same orbital period as the sidereal rotation period of the earth. Apr 11, 20 this code is a matlab script that can be used to design and analyze sunsynchronous orbits. The earth sun orbit geometry for sun synchronous orbits with angular momentum vectors that project onto the earth sun line is such that orbits with inclinations greater than 115.
Moreover, these two subsystems are strongly in interaction with each other so that considering only one of them without the other one is not analytically and practically possible. Sun synchronous orbit or a heliosynchronous orbit very important because of its particular importance to satellites intended for remote sensing and military applications. Once youve created your desired orbit, it is automatically imported into the spacecraft resource for later use. This paper mainly aims at seeking for an optimal near sunsynchronous orbit for a nadirpointing satellite using evolutionary algorithms. In this constellation, after every orbit nodal period, the constellation is shifted. Hence, an object in geosynchronous will always appear stationary at all times from earth.
A study was conducted to demonstrate the development of an extension of the sunsynchronous orbit, which as per definition is a finite resource similar to a geostationary orbit, the extension to. Als sonnensynchrone umlaufbahn oder sonnensynchronen orbit auch sonnensynchronorbit. A sun synchronous orbit is one that lies in a plane that maintains a fixed angle with respect to the earth sun direction. Sun synchronous orbit these orbits allows a satellite to pass over a section of the earth at the same time of day.
Sunsynchronous orbit these orbits allows a satellite to pass over a section of the earth at the same time of day. Synchronous orbit due to requirement of same light condition throughout the operational lifetime. The multi sun synchronous orbits are introduced first. More technically, it is an orbit arranged in such a way that it precesses once a year. A sunsynchronous orbit exploits the precession of nodes due to the latitudinal perturbation in the earths gravitational field. The value of the inclination angle i will determine key attributes of an orbit. The synchronous orbit is the orbit that allows a satellite to make a revolution around the planet while the planet makes one tour around itself. Indias polar satellite launch vehicle, in its 40th flight pslvc38, will launch the 712 kg cartosat2 series satellite for earth observation and 30 copassenger satellites together weighing about 243 kg at liftoff into a 505 km polar sun synchronous orbit sso. Sunsynchronous orbits american academy of arts and.
Sun synchronous orbit definition of sun synchronous. It orbits in the same direction of rotation as that body. When a satellite reaches exactly 42,164 kilometers from the center of the earth about 36,000 kilometers from earths surface, it enters a sort of sweet spot in which its orbit matches earths rotation. For certain values of semimajor axis and eccentricity, orbit plane precession caused by earth oblateness is synchronous with the mean orbital motion of the apparent sun a sunsynchronism.
Hence, an object in geo synchronous will always appear stationary at all times from earth. Nonsynchronous satellites are those in pretty much any other orbit like the space station, or hubble they orbit the earth at altitudes designed for their mission, and not so much for the convenience to those on the ground. Stability of sunsynchronous orbits in the vicinity of a comet. A sunsynchronous orbit is an orbit around the earth, where the movement of the satellite always looks the same when viewed from the sun. The bookish definition of the sunsynchronous orbit is given below wiki. The borealis orbit was a highly elliptical orbit with perigee at an altitude of about 630 km and a perigee altitude of about 7,600 km, inclined at 116. The zeya satellite was used for navigation and geodesy tests from a sunsynchronous orbit. A sunsynchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit which combines altitude and inclination in such a way that an object in this orbit has an a nodal regression rate which is equals to earths orbital rotation speed around the sun. Since there are 365 days in a year and 360 degrees in a circle, it means that the satellite has to shift its orbit by approximately one degree per day. The satellite is placed on a circular sun synchronous orbit at 800 km height. This means that if the orbit has an inclination and. Based on these orbits, the idea of multi sunsynchronous constellations is presented. Apparently there is a special orbit called sunsynchronous orbit, which is designed such that the satellite always crosses a given latitude on the day side of the earth at the same time of. Earth observing satellite built by orbital sciences corporation osc for orbimage for.
Bilimoria nasa ames research center, moffett field, california 94035 and rogier a. Jan 31, 2017 the bookish definition of the sun synchronous orbit is given below wiki. Synchronous orbit definition of synchronous orbit at. The orbit is propagated by numerical integration during the solution process, and the software allows the user to specify the degree and order of the earth gravity model to use during the simulation. The sunsynchronous orbit is a particular case of an almost polar orbit. Sunsynchronous orbits near critical inclination springerlink. Heres an example of a sunsynchronous orbit using the designer. Handy back of the envelope equations will be provided to enable the mission analyst and system engineer to do quick and simple calculations for the orbit parameters selection and to compute mission parameters important to satellite design without having to resort to.
Like all of the landsat satellites, landsat 6 would have been in a sunsynchronous orbit had its launch been successful. A sunsynchronous orbit sometimes called a heliosynchronous orbit not verified in body is a geocentric orbit which combines altitude and inclination in such a way that an object on that orbit ascends or descends over any given point of the earths surface at the same local mean solar time. Krieger delft university of technology, 2629 hs delft, the netherlands a slot architecture is developed for separating satellites in congested sunsynchronous. Satellites can orbit earths equator or go over earths north and south poles, or anything in between. I am trying to figure out the eclipse periods of a satellite orbiting the earth. A geosynchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit that has the same orbital period as the sidereal rotation period of the earth. More technically, it is an orbit arranged so that it precesses through one complete revolution each year, so it always maintains the same relationship with the sun. The surface illumination angle will be nearly the same every time.
For this reason many synchronous satellites have carried detectors for. Sunsynchronous orbit design file exchange matlab central. The precession speed depends on orbit altitude and inclination, so for a given altitude there is a magic inclination that makes it sunsynchronous. A sun synchronous orbit is an orbit that passes over a given point on earth at the same mean solar time. Sun synchronous orbit how is sun synchronous orbit abbreviated. A geosynchronous orbit sometimes abbreviated gso is an earthcentered orbit with an orbital period that matches earths rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds one sidereal day. Satellites in sunsynchronous orbits pass over a given part of the earth at. Abcs of sun synchronous orbit mission design ronald j. This schematic appears in the landsat 6 programming and control handbook that was prepared by martin marietta astro space in 1993. The third matlab script calculates the osculating orbital inclination required for a sun synchronous orbit. Figure 5 is a plot of the orbital periods of circular sun synchronous orbits versus orbital inclination. Wow, this is where we get into the complexities or orbit mechanics. The seastar satellite carries the seawifs instrument which was designed to monitor the color of the worlds oceans.
Pdf on sunsynchronous orbits and associated constellations. Sunsynchronous orbit sso satellites serve many important functions, primarily in the areas of earth reconnaissance and weather. Krieger delft university of technology, 2629 hs delft, the netherlands a slot architecture is developed for separating satellites in congested sunsynchronous orbits that are a. The sun synchronous orbit is one of the most frequently used orbits for earth science missions. In a sunsynchronous orbit, though, the satellite passes over the same part of the earth at roughly the same local time each day.
Sun synchronous orbits with angular momentum vectors which. A sun synchronous orbit sometimes called a heliosynchronous orbit 1 is a geocentric orbit which combines altitude and inclination in such a way that an object on that orbit will appear to orbit in the same position, from the perspective of the sun, during its orbit around the earth. An approach is done for a special type of orbit, denominated sunsynchronous orbit of moons artificial satellites. Sun synchronous orbits for the earth solar power satellite system pdf, eng. Jun 07, 2017 a sun synchronous orbit also called a heliosynchronous orbit is an orbit around earth with the right combination of altitude and inclination such that the earths oblateness causes the orbit. So orbits are not fixed in space, they tend to change over time, and one of the things that makes an orbit change is the shape of the earth. Sun synchronous orbits for the earth solar power satellite.
The satellite travels from the north pole to the south pole and vice versa, but its orbital plane is always fixed for an observer that is posted in the sun. Generally within the field of astrodynamics and mission analysis, the sun synchronous orbit is understood to be a near polar orbit where the nodal precession rate is matched to the earths mean orbital rate around the sun. In a sun synchronous orbit, though, the satellite passes over the same part of the earth at roughly the same local time each day. By choosing the orbit inclination right, the propagation rate of the nodes can be synchronised with the sun s node propagation about 1 degreeday. These orbits could be adopted by those earth science missions whose aim is to study the local hour effects. Geo synchronous orbits are those orbits in which object revolves in the same time as taken by earth rotation on its axis. An orbit in which the satellites orbital plane is at a fixed orientation to the sun, i.
As another answer correctly stated, a sunsynchronous orbit sso with a local time of ascending node ltan of 12 noon would experience the maximum eclipse since the vector to the sun would lie within the orbital plane and an orbit with an ltan of 11 am would experience an eclipse time of close to that. This paper contains the preliminary ideas on how to design orbits and constellations associated with extended sunsynchronicity concepts. California the sunsynchronous orbit is one of the most frequently used orbits for earth science missions. Boain jet propulsion laboratory california institute of technology pasadena. A special case of geosynchronous orbit is the geostationary orbit, which is a circular geosynchronous orbit in earths equatorial plane.
A sun synchronous orbit is a special type of a lowearth orbit. A supersynchronous orbit is either an orbit with a period greater than that of a synchronous orbit, or just an orbit whose apoapsis apogee in the case of the earth is higher than that of a synchronous orbit. These orbits allows a satellite to pass over a section of the earth at the same time of day. Sunsynchronous orbit project gutenberg selfpublishing. The orbit is propagated by numerical integration during the solution process, and the software allows the user to specify the degree and order of the earth gravity model to. Slot architecture for separating satellites in sunsynchronous orbits karl d. The choice of orbit all depends on the satellites job. Information and translations of sunsynchronous orbit in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Sunsynchronous orbit a satellite orbit that remains constant in relation to the sun, passing close to both poles and crossing the meridians at an angle. For certain values of semimajor axis and eccentricity, orbit plane precession caused by earth oblateness is synchronous with the mean orbital motion of the apparent sun a sun synchronism. For this reason many synchronous satellites have carried detectors for magnetic fields and for trapped or injected ions and electrons.