AE 240/338/415/713 Practice Session No.

11 –Advanced Orbital Manoeuvres

1. A spacecraft is in an elliptic orbit with perigee at 100 km altitude and apogee at 250 km
altitude above the Earth’s surface, having perigee argument of 30o. Determine the magnitude
and direction of velocity impulse needed at perigee to change the argument to 60o.

2. Determine the velocity impulses required for Hohmann transfer method for transfer of a
satellite from low Earth orbit of radius 1.03 RE to an orbit around moon with radius 60 RE.
Next perform the same manoeuvre by (1) first escaping to infinity on a parabola, (2) then
performing zero ‘∆v’ approach to the moon’s orbit on another parabola and (3) finally,
circularizing the moon’s orbit.

3. On launch the space shuttle does not directly inject into the final mission orbit, but the
main engine shutdown occurs when its apogee is at 100 km altitude and perigee at 30 km
altitude above Earth’s surface. Determine the velocity impulses necessary to (1) first transfer
it into an elliptic orbit with perigee at 100 km altitude and apogee at 250 km altitude and (2)
next circularize the orbit at 250 km altitude.

4. Determine the velocity impulses required for Hohmann transfer method for transfer of a
satellite from low Earth orbit of radius 1.03 RE to an orbit around moon with radius 60 RE.
Next perform the same manoeuvre by (1) first escaping to infinity on a parabola, (2) then
performing zero ‘∆v’ approach to the moon’s orbit on another parabola and (3) finally,
circularizing the moon’s orbit.

5. A low-thrust orbit-transfer vehicle is in a circular orbit with radius ‘a’, and is attempting to
change its inclination ‘i’. If the thrust profile is that A = -A for -90o < θ +90o and A = +A for
90o < θ < 270o, and is normal to the orbital plane, show that change in angular momentum
during one orbital cycle and associated incremental inclination change are;

a3 4a 2 A
∆H = 4 Aa qˆ; ∆i =
µ µ

6. A satellite with perigee of 552 km altitude and apogee of 2208 km altitude needs to make a
10o plane change when the spacecraft reaches its apogee. Determine the ‘∆V’ required for the
manoeuvre and compare it with the impulse required at perigee for performing the same
manoeuvre of plane change.

7. A satellite leaves a circular parking orbit around Earth, having initial inclination ‘i’, to
achieve a circular geosynchronous equatorial orbit, using Hohmann transfer method. The
required inclination change is done partly in the first change and remaining in the second
change. Determine the total velocity change needed to complete the orbit change. Also obtain
the optimal breakup of ∆i1 & ∆i2 that minimizes the total ∆V.
8. A geosynchronous satellite, over a period of one mean solar day, changes its orbit such that
while its apogee remains the same, perigee reduces by 1%. If the orbit is to be circularized at
the end of each day when sun is overhead only for 15 minutes, determine the size of the solar
sail that would achieve this objective.