Low energy method for changing the inclinations of orbiting satellites using weak stability boundaries and a computer process for implementing same
First Claim
1. A method of generating a transfer for an object emanating substantially at at least one of earth, earth orbit and a first heavenly location to arrive at at least one of the moon, moon orbit and a second heavenly location using a computer implemented process, comprising the steps of:
- (a) entering parameters for said method of generating the transfer;
(b) implementing at least one of a forward targeting process and a forward transfer process to converge in a region of the at least one of the moon, the moon orbit and the second heavenly location; and
(c) iterating step (b) until sufficient convergence to obtain the transfer from the at least one of earth, the earth orbit and the first heavenly location to the at least one of the moon, the moon orbit and the second heavenly location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fuel efficient technique for changing the inclination, with respect to the Earth'"'"'s equator, for a satellite includes first maneuvering the satellite to the moon on a BCT (Ballistic Capture Transfer). At the moon, the satellite is in the so-called fuzzy boundary or weak stability boundary. A negligibly small maneuver can then bring it back to the Earth on a reverse BCT to the desired Earth inclination. Another maneuver puts it into the new ellipse at the earth. In the case of satellites launched from Vandenberg AFB into LEO in a circular orbit of an altitude of 700 km with an inclination of 34°, approximately 6 km/s is required to change the inclination to 90°. The previous flight time associated with this method was approximately 170 days. A modification of this method also achieves a significant savings and unexpected benefits in energy as measured by Delta-V, where the flight time is also substantially reduced to 88 or even 6 days. Various alternative embodiments are disclosed.
29 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method of generating a transfer for an object emanating substantially at at least one of earth, earth orbit and a first heavenly location to arrive at at least one of the moon, moon orbit and a second heavenly location using a computer implemented process, comprising the steps of:
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(a) entering parameters for said method of generating the transfer;
(b) implementing at least one of a forward targeting process and a forward transfer process to converge in a region of the at least one of the moon, the moon orbit and the second heavenly location; and
(c) iterating step (b) until sufficient convergence to obtain the transfer from the at least one of earth, the earth orbit and the first heavenly location to the at least one of the moon, the moon orbit and the second heavenly location.
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2. A method of traveling from substantially from at least one of earth, earth orbit and a first heavenly location to at least one of the moon, moon orbit and a second heavenly location in a space vehicle or rocket using a transfer, comprising the steps of:
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(a) generating the transfer by implementing at least one of a forward targeting process and a forward transfer process to converge at the at least one of the moon, the moon orbit and the second heavenly location; and
(b) traveling from substantially at the at least one of the earth, the earth orbit and the first heavenly location to the at least one of the moon, the moon orbit and the second heavenly location using the transfer by the space vehicle or the rocket.
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3. A method of generating a transfer for an object emanating substantially at at least one of a first heavenly object, first heavenly object orbit and a first heavenly location to arrive at at least one of a second heavenly object, second heavenly object orbit and a second heavenly location, comprising the sequential, non-sequential or sequence independent step of:
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(a) entering parameters for said method of generating the transfer;
(b) implementing at least one of a forward targeting process and a forward transfer process by varying the parameters to converge in a region of the at least one of the second heavenly object, the second heavenly object orbit and the second heavenly location from the first heavenly object, the first heavenly object orbit and the first heavenly location; and
(c) iterating step (b) until sufficient convergence to obtain the transfer from the at least one of the first heavenly object, the first heavenly object orbit and the first heavenly location to the at least one of the second heavenly object, the second heavenly object orbit and the second heavenly location. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of traveling by an object emanating substantially from at least one of a first heavenly object, first heavenly object orbit and a first heavenly location to arrive at at least one of a second heavenly object, second heavenly object orbit and a second heavenly location using a transfer, comprising the sequential, non-sequential or sequence independent steps of:
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(a) generating the transfer by implementing at least one of a forward targeting process and a forward transfer process to converge in a region of the at least one of the second heavenly object, the second heavenly object orbit and the second heavenly location; and
(b) traveling from substantially from the at least one of the first heavenly object, the first heavenly object orbit and the first heavenly location to the at least one of the second heavenly object, second heavenly object orbit and the second heavenly location using the transfer by the object. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A spacecraft or satellite implementing a method of traveling from substantially at least one of a first heavenly object, a first heavenly object orbit and a first heavenly location to arrive at at least one of a second heavenly object, a second heavenly object orbit and a second heavenly location using a transfer, wherein the transfer is generated via at least one of said spacecraft, said satellite and a remote system, by implementing at least one of a forward targeting process and a forward transfer process to converge in a region of the at least one of the second heavenly object, the second heavenly object orbit and the second heavenly location;
- and said spacecraft or said satellite travel from substantially at the at least one of the first heavenly object, the first heavenly object orbit and the first heavenly location to the at least one of the second heavenly object, the second heavenly object orbit and the second heavenly location using the transfer.
Specification