Design of Satellite Constellations for Operational Global Monitoring with a Daily Repeat of Flight Track

Resumo

An analytical technique for designing satellite constellations for operational global monitoring of Earth’s surface is presented. This technique makes it possible to calculate the rational shift from the argument of latitude and longitude of the right ascension of the ascending node between satellites in the system. The orbital parameters of spacecraft and the characteristics of its field of view should be taken from basic solutions for satellite constellations of operational global monitoring, considered by authors in earlier studies. The resulting basic solutions make it possible to find the maximal break in the observation of any point on Earth’s surface for a single satellite, and the technique described here makes it possible to determine the rational location of several satellites in the system and minimize the peak revisit time for the entire satellite constellation. The technique has been developed for spacecraft with a daily repeat of flight track and makes it possible to determine the minimum number of satellites in the system that can provide a break in observation to be limited by a given value. This study presents several families of solutions for satellite constellations with a daily repeat of flight track on low circular orbits at heights below 2000 km.