Lecture 1

INTRODUCTION
 Preamble
 Pakistan is a nuclear power capable of projecting
its strategic muscle at long distances
 It is unthinkable that a nation that harnesses such
immense power and capability is unable to project
itself into the very mid-course that its weapons
cross every time they are unleashed
 The necessity of space technology is not just from
terminal weapon needs but from the standpoint of
occupying a vantage spot into the final frontiers
 To standup and be appreciated as developers and
not just importers of borrowed high-end
technologies
The Space Environment

Explorers’ Guide to the Solar

3 System
The Scale of Our Insignificance

4
The Scale of Our Insignificance

5
The Scale of Our Insignificance

6
The Scale of Our Insignificance

7
The Scale of Our Insignificance

8
 Core Stuff in Space
 Asteroids & Comets
 Small members of the solar system in
heliocentric orbits concentrated between Jupiter
and Mars
 Often confused with Comets
 Where Asteroids are rocky objects composed of
materials as that of inner planets while Comets
are composed of water, ice and other frozen
volatiles, silicates and organic materials
 Most heliocentric comets reside in Kuiper Belt –
KBO
 Core Stuff in Space
 Asteroids & Comets
The Mars – Jupiter asteroid belt – source of
most asteroids in our solar system

Explorers’ Guide to the Solar System 11

Explorers’ Guide to the Solar System 12
 Core Stuff
 Astronautics & Astronomy
 Astronautics is the science and technology of
space flight, also called as Cosmonautics
 Involves navigation beyond earth’s atmosphere
 Astronomy however is a field of science only that
studies the sun, moon, earth, planets, comets,
galaxies and all other galactic bodies
 Core Stuff
 Astronautics & Astronomy
 Core Stuff
 Earth Orbiting Satellites (EOS)
 Man-made (artificial) bodies that move
around the earth on predefined paths (orbits)
in an earth-centric system
 EOS follow principle of two-body problem
 EOS maintain Keplerian orbits
 Ground support of EOS includes Tracking,
Telemetry and Control or TT&C
 Core Stuff
 Earth Orbiting Satellites (EOS)
 Core Stuff
 Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV)
 A non-reusable launch vehicle that carries the
payload to orbital space and is wasted in
space or partly through atmosphere during
after the deployment of payload
 Nearly all launch vehicles currently in-use
around the world are ELVs
 Vehicles like Space Shuttle do not fall in this
category since some of systems like SS
Orbiter, and boosters are recoverable while
liquid rocket tank is wasted
 Core Stuff
 Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV)
 Core Stuff
 Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV)
 Core Stuff
 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
 A satellite – based navigation system for the global
community
 GNSS objective is real-time determination of
position and velocity of an unlimited number of
moving objects at any point on the earth’s surface,
in the air and in space
 Major GNSS include
 GPS (Global Positioning System) – US
 Glonass (Global Navigation Satellite System) - Russia
 Beidou – China
 Gallileo - ESA
 Core Stuff
 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
 Core Stuff
 Rocket Propulsion System
 A rocket is an engine that does not rely on
atmospheric oxygen for combustion
 It operates on reaction principle and develops thrust
by ejecting a stream of matter rearward
 Since source for producing energy is self-contained
in a rocket system it can operate in any medium
including the space (vacuum) outside earth’s
atmosphere
 Rockets used in space transportation systems
mostly use chemical or electrical propulsion system
 Core Stuff
 Rocket Propulsion System
 Core Stuff
 Space Station
 A space station is a long term low earth orbiting outpost
that is established with the aim of furthering space
exploration and conducting microgravity experiments
 Several space stations have existed till today these include :-
 Salyut stations (USSR)
 Mir (USSR)
 Skylab (USA)
 ISS (multinational)
 Tiangong (China)
 The largest most expensive space station ever built is the ISS
it is also the largest man-made structure in space
 The latest edition to space station family is the Tiangong
which will be completed by 2020
 Core Stuff
 Space Station
 Core Stuff
 Spacecraft
 Spacecrafts are flight vehicles that can sustain operations in
outer space
 Spacecrafts can be orbital or suborbital i.e.
 Orbital spacecrafts – sustain one or more complete orbit
around the planet
 Suborbital spacecrafts – do not sustain a complete orbit, these
reach orbit altitude and then make a reentry into the
atmosphere
 Spacecrafts can be manned or unmanned and include
 Satellites
 Orbiters
 Launch vehicles
 Space stations
 Spaceplanes etc
 Core Stuff
 Spacecraft

Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)

Sputnik Vostok

Hubble Telescope
Explorers’ Guide to the Solar System 28
 Core Stuff
 Missile Based Launch Vehicle
 A developmental process initiated by the Soviet
Yuzhnoye design bureaus that converted ballistic
missiles into launch vehicles
 The following launch vehicles are derivative of
ballistic missiles
 Kosmos, Kosmos-2, Tsiklon-2, Tsiklon-3, Dnepr are the
first generation missile based LVs
 Zenit-2 and Zenit-3SL are 3rd and 4th generation LVs
 In US Minotaur I to VI have been converted from
Minuteman ICBM
 Core Stuff
 Missile Based Launch Vehicle
 Core Stuff
 Orbit
 The curved path of an object around a point in space
 The curved path is generated as a result of balancing
of centripetal and gravitational forces acting on a
body
 All planets within a solar system move in prescribed
orbits which are somewhat elliptical in shape
 Artificial satellites also move in orbits around the
planets in whose gravitational field they are
positioned
 Orbits obey Newton’s laws of motion and
gravitation
 Core Stuff
 Orbit
Description of Orbit
 Right Ascension (Ω)
 Measured eastward from the vernal equinox
 In Spring when the sun’s center crosses the
equatorial plane once thought to be aligned
with the first point of the constellation Aries
 Inclination (i)
 Argument of Perigee (ω)
 Two of the following
 Eccentricity (e)
 Perigee (rp)
 Apogee (ra)
 Celestial Sphere

Argument of
Perigee ()
Perigee
Celestial
Equator
Inclination

Right Ascension 

Orbit Trace
 ORBITAL MECHANICS: GROUND TRACES
INCLINED ORBIT
SAT
ORBIT 4
ORBIT 3 EQUATORIAL ORBIT
ORBIT 2
ORBIT 1 MULTIPLE ORBITS

EARTH MOTION BENEATH SATELLITE ANGLE OF INCLINATION

(0 DEG. FOR EQUATORIAL)

GROUND TRACES

THE POINTS ON THE EARTH’S SURFACE OVER WHICH A SATELLITE PASSES AS

IT TRAVELS ALONG ITS ORBIT

PRINCIPLE : GROUND TRACE IS THE RESULT OF THE ORBITAL PLANE BEING

FIXED AND THE EARTH ROTATING UNDERNEATH IT
AMPLITUDE OF GROUND TRACE (LATITUDE RANGE) IS EQUAL TO THE ORBITAL INCLINATION

MOVEMENT OF GROUND TRACE IS DICTATED BY THE SATELLITE ALTITUDE AND THE CORRESPONDING TIME FOR
IT TO COMPLETE ONE ORBIT
 SPECIFIC ORBITS AND APPLICATIONS
• POLAR (180- 1300 KM AT 80 - 100 DEG. INCLINATION)
– SATELLITE PASSES THROUGH THE EARTH'S SHADOW AND PERMITS VIEWING OF
THE ENTIRE EARTH’S SURFACE EACH DAY WITH A SINGLE SATELLITE
• SUN SYNCHRONOUS (150 - 1500 KM AT 95 - 105 DEG INCLINATION)
– PRECESSION OF ORBITAL PLANE SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE EARTH’S ROTATION SO
SATELLITE IS ALWAYS IN VIEW OF THE SUN
– PERMITS OBSERVATION OF POINTS ON THE EARTH AT THE SAME TIME EACH DAY
• SEMISYNCHRONOUS (21,000 KM AT 55 DEG INCLINATION)
– 12 HR PERIODS PERMITTING IDENTICAL GROUNDTRACES EACH DAY
• HIGHLY INCLINED ELLIPTICAL (FIXED PERIGEE POSITION)
– SATELLITE SPENDS A GREAT DEAL OF TIME NEAR THE APOGEE COVERING ONE
HEMISPHERE
– CLASSICALLY CALLED “MOLNIYA ORBIT” BECAUSE OF ITS HEAVY USE BY THE
RUSSIANS FOR NORTHERN HEMISPHERE COVERAGE
• GEOSYNCHRONOUS (GEO) (CIRCULAR, 36,000 KM AT 0 DEG INCLINATION)
– 24 HR PERIOD PERMITS SATELLITE POSITIONING OVER ONE POINT ON EARTH.
– ORBITAL PERIOD SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE EARTH’S ROTATION (NO OTHER ORBIT
HAS THIS FEATURE)
 Coordinate Systems

 Cartesian Coordinates  Polar Coordinates

 Abscissa = x  Radius Vector = r
 Ordinate = y  Vectorial Angle = 
 (x,y)  (r,

+y

r
-x +x


-y
Operational Modes of a Satellite
 The basic mode: the Sun-Pointing Fixed mode (SPF)
 with the solar arrays perpendicular to the Sun vector and
the satellite moving inertially fixed.
 The same attitude is assumed by the satellite in safe mode
 The Auto-Acquisition mode (AAM)
 with the satellite detecting the Sun autonomously and
aligning the solar arrays.
 The Earth-Pointing mode (EPM)
 requires precise pointing accuracy
 The roughly nadir-pointing direction of the payload
segments and the high-gain antenna are used for ground
contact and high data rate transmission
Operational Modes of a Satellite
 The Inertial Pointing Mode (IPG)
 From time to time the satellite points into deep space or
to the Moon for radiometric calibration purposes
 The Large Angle Maneuvers (LAMs)
 Changes of the attitude modes are accomplished by so-
called large-angle maneuvers (LAMs)
 The Damping Mode (DAM)
 Damping of the tumbling movement after separation
from the upper stage is executed
 The Suspend mode (SPM)
 almost all attitude control equipment is switched off.
Operational Modes of a Satellite

AAM, Auto-Acquisition Mode; SPR, Sun-Pointing Rotate;

DAM, Damping Mode; EPM, Earth-Pointing Mode;
LAM, Large-Angle Maneuver; IPG, Inertial Pointing Mode;
SPF, Sun-Pointing Fix; SPM, Suspend Mode