Sun-synchronous Orbit Design

[cdeaglejr]

This HP Prime program can be used to compute the mean orbital inclination for a sun-synchronous satellite in Earth orbit.

The software provides two different types of user-defined input;

<1> user input of mean semimajor axis and eccentricity

<2> user input of mean perigee and apogee altitudes

A sun-synchronous orbit has a nodal regression rate that approximately matches the Earth’s heliocentric orbital rate around the Sun. The orbit plane of a sun-synchronous maintains a fixed geometry with respect to the Earth-Sun line.