Semianalytical Orbit Propagation Using Fourier Series Expansions

Although satellite orbit propagation is one of the oldest problems in artificial satellite theory, there are still remaining challenges related to propagation speed and precision. In this talk,  a new semianalytical orbit propagation method is designed to account for conservative perturbing forces. As opposed to existing methods, which typically rely on averaging to separate the satellite motion into secular, short-periodic, and long-periodic terms, the new approach is based on the development of the Fourier series expansion of the perturbation’s potential function. When this expanded potential is used in the Lagrange planetary equations, the result is a form of the satellite equations of motion which can be solved approximately by simple integration. The method is applied to the J2 oblateness perturbation as well as the third body perturbations of the Sun and Moon. The resulting solution is compared in simulations to existing averaging-based methods as well as numerical integration of the full equations of motion. The proposed method is shown to have advantages in some cases in terms of precision and/or computational cost.

This work is towards a Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Prof. Pini Gurfil, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering