Print Email Facebook Twitter Analytical Low-Thrust Trajectory Design Title Analytical Low-Thrust Trajectory Design: Using the Simplified General Perturbations Model Author de Jong, Hanneke (TU Delft Aerospace Engineering) Contributor Noomen, Ron (mentor) Degree granting institution Delft University of Technology Programme Aerospace Engineering Date 2018-12-20 Abstract An analytical low-thrust design tool for orbits around Earth has been developed which takes perturbations into account. The Simplified General Perturbations 4 model (SGP4) is combined with Edelbaum’s analytical low-thrust trajectory model. This resulted in the SGP4-LT tool which required an iterative version of SGP4. To obtain this iterative SGP4, an existing method was corrected and extended. A convergence rate of 99.5% was obtained for 17542 objects of the satellite catalogue. Convergence was not reached for combinations of inclinations smaller than 0.1° and eccentricities lower than 4e-6. SGP4-LT obtained expected results for orbit raising and non-coplanar orbit change. Altitude maintenance was performed which was based on the GOCE mission. SGP4-LT obtained a 14 % higher amount of propellant than GOCE had available. SGP4-LT provides within seconds a first approximation solution for low-thrust transfer trajectories around Earth and is capable of calculating DeltaV budgets for altitude maintenance in low Earth orbits. Subject astrodynamicsSGP4Low-thrust To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1c58ca05-b367-48e6-9b4c-e31f12f488d7 Part of collection Student theses Document type master thesis Rights © 2018 Hanneke de Jong Files PDF thesis_jgpdejong_final.pdf 13.94 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:1c58ca05-b367-48e6-9b4c-e31f12f488d7/datastream/OBJ/view