Orbital transfer in minimum time
Abstract
The problem of orbital transfer discussed
here is that of scheduling the direction p of constant momentum
thrust of a rocket, which loses mass at a constant rate, so that
it transfers to an earth satellite orbit, with known elements of
time, position and velocity, in a minimum time T after launching
of the rocket. The launching conditions are assumed to be fixed.
This situation is illustrated in Figure 1 for the case of a circular
orbit. The sector angle B at which the rocket enters orbit
will be called the rendezvous angle. To aid the discussion imaginary
physical rendezvous of the rocket and satellite is assumed to
occur at this angle. The time of rocket launch to achieve actual
physical rendezvous can be determined, of course, only after
both of the unknowns T and B have been found. The problem is set
up as a calculus of variations problem of the Lagrange type, and
is solved by an iterative process in which an initial approximation
to the angle B is estimated.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.NPS Report Number
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.) Research paper ; no. 34.Related items
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