The Aerospace Corporation

Orbital Mechanics
PART 1 - PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS

As space missions become more demanding and complex, program managers must understand spacecraft
trajectories to plan and optimize missions with their systems engineering teams. Knowledge of orbit management
tools and analysis methods are a necessity for selecting design options and for making operational decisions for
overall mission success. This course, part 1 of 2, will provide the basic physical principles of orbital motion, satellite
orbital motions, trajectory perturbations, and methods for determining an orbit. In particular, students will become
familiar with critical processes required to manage space missions—tasks that should be conducted by the contrac-
tor; independent analysis the program office would perform to verify contractor work; expertise, time, and budget to
perform tasks. A variety of lessons learned and use of trade studies and decision-making tools will also be included.
Key Themes
● Solution of the two-body problem

● Analysis of orbits and orbit changes

● Methods of orbit prediction and determination

● Relative motion in orbit

● Approaches to lunar and interplanetary trajectories

● Applications of orbit perturbations

● Design and establishment of orbital systems

The Aerospace Corporation
● Orbital coverage and collision hazards associated

with space debris 2350 East El Segundo Boulevard

El Segundo, CA 90245-4691
Who Should Attend
● Program office personnel responsible for systems 310.336.5000
engineering and architecting www.aero.org/education/
● New systems and design engineers

● New systems engineering managers

Contact
How You Will Benefit Call or write for information on
● Gain an understanding of the principles of orbital mechanics

● Become aware of practical methods for solving orbital

class schedules and pricing.
mechanics problems related to mission planning, design, and 310.336.5504
analysis of orbital systems InstituteCC@aero.org
● Become more familiar with current issues related to space debris

and other topics of interest, and strategies to manage them

Course Length
One day
Prerequisite
None
Course Materials
Student textbook containing course slides and supplementary material
Instructor
Dr. Vladimir Chobotov is a consultant in the Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies at The Aerospace
Corporation with more than 40 years of experience in orbital mechanics, including 30 years in academia. He is
editor of the book Orbital Mechanics, published by AIAA.