Patent ID: 9487309
Filing Date: 2016-11-08
CPC Classification: B64G

Claim Text:
1. A method of eccentricity control for a geosynchronous satellite having a geosynchronous orbit and an orbit line of nodes, the method comprising: setting a schedule for eccentricity control of the geosynchronous orbit using a two-dimensional eccentricity vector ellipse describing target eccentricity vector components over an annual period, each of the eccentricity vector components indicating a magnitude and direction for eccentricity vectors from the geosynchronous satellite to a perigee of the geosynchronous orbit; defining a plurality of parameters for the two-dimensional eccentricity vector ellipse including transmitting operational commands to the geosynchronous satellite for eccentricity control based on the schedule and the two-dimensional eccentricity vector ellipse, the operational commands defining maneuvers and inter-maneuver uncontrolled eccentricity coast segments to maintain a geodetic longitude of the geosynchronous satellite within a predefined distance from a station longitude.