Lecture 3: Orbital Mechanics

Spring 2021
Basic of Satellite Orbits
 The speed of a satellite is
• Determined by the satellite’s orbit.
• Closely tied to the satellite’s altitude.

 A satellite’s orbit does not depend on its mass

• All objects with the same velocity (speed and direction) at a given
point in space follow the same orbit.

 Satellites close to the Earth move faster than those at higher

altitudes
• International Space Station (ISS) moves faster than a GPS satellite
when viewed from earth
• Satellites in low earth orbits (hundreds of kilometers above the
Earth) move rapidly relative to the Earth, completing an orbit in
1.5 to 2 hours.
Basic of Satellite Orbits
 Satellites in higher orbits move at slower speeds than those in
lower orbits
• Distance they travel in one orbit is longer.
• The time required for a satellite to orbit (the orbital period) increases
with altitude.
• Only one altitude (36,000 km) permits satellites to orbit at the same
rate at which the Earth rotates, such satellites are called
geosynchronous.

 Once satellite in orbit, a satellite does not need constant powering

to remain in flight, as airplanes do. Satellites use small onboard
rocket engines to maneuver in space.

 A satellite’s orbit always lies in a plane that passes through the

center of the Earth.
• The angle between that plane and the plane of the equator is
called the orbit’s inclination.
Basic of Satellite Orbits
Ground Track/Trace: is the path on the surface of earth directly below
an aircraft or Satellite.
Ground Tracks show the spacecraft position onto the Earth's surface.
 Most useful for LEO satellites, though it applies to other types of
missions
 Gives a quick picture view of where the spacecraft is located, and
what geographical coverage it provides.
Altitude vs. Orbital Speed vs Orbital Period

Speed needed to keep an object on orbit does not depend on its mass. Any object small
or large with the same velocity will travel on the same orbit.
Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation
 Gravity is the force of nature that attracts one mass to another
mass.
 Gravity holds you on the Earth, causes apples to fall.
 On a larger scale, gravity is responsible for the motion of the
Moon, Earth, and other planets.
 To describe the force of gravity, Newton proposed the
following law:

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 Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation
 Every particle in the Universe attracts every
other particle with a force that is directly
proportional to the product of their masses
and inversely proportional to the distance
between them
 Thus, the Centripetal Force due to gravity
of Earth (FG ) is equal to
 𝐹 =𝐺 𝑚 1 . 𝑚 2
𝐺 2
𝑟

 G = is The Universal Gravitational Constant (6.673 x 10-11 N.m2 / kg2 )

ME = The mass of Earth (5.9742*1024 kg)
ms = the mass of satellite
rS = the radius of rotation of satellite around the center of Earth. It becomes
equal to the addition of Satellite altitude (as) with Earth radius (rE): where
= 6738.137 km
Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation
 As is shown in the figure below, Newton's law of gravity states that
the force between two masses is directed along a line connecting
the masses.

 Both masses in the figure experience an attractive force of the

same magnitude,

 𝐹 =𝐺 𝑚 1 . 𝑚 2
𝐺 2
𝑟
Circular Motion
 According to Newton's second law, an object moves with
constant speed in a straight line unless acted on by a force.

 To make an object move in a circle with constant speed, a

force that is directed toward the center of the circle must act
on the object.

 For example, swinging a ball in a

circle overhead requires an
inward force.
Circular Motion
 The force acting on the ball is always perpendicular to the
motion of the ball. Therefore, it changes the ball's direction,
but not its speed.

 Since the ball is acted on by a force that is directed toward the

center of the circle, it follows that the ball must be
accelerating toward the center of the circle.

 The acceleration resulting from the center-directed force is

referred to as the centripetal acceleration(acp) , where the
subscript "cp" stands for centripetal.
Circular Motion
 Therefore, when an object moves with a speed v in a circle of
radius r its centripetal acceleration(acp) is

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 Newton's second law states that force equals mass times

acceleration. Therefore, the force that causes circular motion,
referred to as the centripetal force, is the mass times the
centripetal acceleration.
Circular Motion
  The magnitude of the Centripetal Force ( is given by the following
equation:

Where
= is the speed of motion of the satellite in orbit
= the mass of satellite
= is the radius of satellite rotation

 Summarizing: During circular motion, the centripetal force has a

constant magnitude () and is always directed toward the center
of the circle. In addition, the centripetal force is always
perpendicular to the tangential velocity of the object in circular
motion.
Circular Satellite Orbits
 Now, using the formulas for the above two forces, we see that a
satellite will remain in a fixed circular orbit if the two forces are
equal to each other, otherwise, the satellite will not travel in a
circular orbit and may possibly hit Earth’s surface or escape Earth
gravity. Using this, we get the following:

 This gives a formula for evaluating the needed speed of a satellite to

maintain a circular orbit around Earth in terms of the radius of
satellite orbit or the opposite:

The quantity μ=G⋅ME is called Keppler’s Constant.

Circular Satellite Orbits
 Considering the first two forces only for the time being,
the following figure illustrates how these forces act on an
object in orbit around Earth:
Elliptical Satellite Orbits
Elliptical Satellite Orbits
 The general form of a satellite orbit is an elliptical orbit, which means
that the distance from the satellite to the center/surface of Earth changes
continuously as the satellite moves in orbit.
 An elliptical orbit has two focal points (as compared to a single “focal
point” in the case of circular orbit which the center of the circle). Earth
is located in one of the focal points of an elliptical orbit.
 Figure shows the geometry and characteristics of an elliptical
orbit. F1 and F2 are called the focal(focus/foci) points of the ellipse, a is
called the semi-major axis, b is the semi-minor axis, and e is the
eccentricity
Elliptical Satellite Orbits

• Major Axis (2a), Longest distance through center(Line that contains two
focus points)
 a is called the semi-major axis

• Minor Axis (2b), Shortest distance through center (Line perpendicular to

Major Axis)
b is called the semi-minor axis

• Distance between the two foci(focus) = 2c

Elliptical Satellite Orbits

 Perigee: the point on an elliptical orbit when the satellite is the closest to the
earth.
 Apogee: the point on an elliptical orbit when the satellite is the farthest to the
earth.
• A satellite when near to the perigee moves faster
• A satellite when near to apogee moves slower
• The speed of a satellite depends not only on Altitude but also the shape of
the orbit (length of major-axis)
Elliptical Satellite Orbits (geometric terms)
 Apogee - point on the orbit where the satellite is furthest from Earth
• Apogee Altitude=Ra-RE and Ra=a (1 + e)
o Where e is eccentricity and RE is the earth's radius and a is
the semimajor axis

 Perigee - point on the orbit where the satellite is closest to Earth

• Perigee Altitude=Rp-RE and Rp=a (1 - e)
o Where e is eccentricity and RE is the earth's radius and a is
the semimajor axis

 Semi-major axis (a) - distance from the center of the ellipse to the
apogee or perigee

 Semi-minor axis (b)

Elliptical Satellite Orbits (geometric terms)
 Eccentricity(e) - distance from the center of the ellipse to
one focus / semi-major axis (a)

• The eccentricity is defined as e = (c/a)

– For a circle, e = 0
– The range of values of the eccentricity for ellipses is 0 < e < 1
– The higher the value of e, the longer and thinner the ellipse
Elliptical Satellite Orbits
 The first person to depict the elliptical motion of planets
around the sun was Kepler, who came up with his laws of
planetary motion in the 1960’s.

 These laws apply to any object of negligible mass that orbits a

much larger mass as it is the case for satellites orbiting Earth.

 Newton then confirmed that Kepler’s laws are compatible

with his gravitational law.
Elliptical Satellite Orbits
   These laws allowed the derivation of the location of the satellite at
different points during its orbit using the following set of equations

 Distance between satellite and Earth

 Relation between the semi-major axis(a), semi-minor axis(b),

and eccentricity(e)

 The velocity of the satellite

 The orbital period Were μ=G⋅ME =3.986*105