Patent ID: 8480036

Claim:
A method for designing satellite constellations that provide k-fold continuous, contiguous/overlapping or non-contiguous coverage of earth or any planet from satellites at various altitudes with circular or elliptical orbits making an angle greater than or equal to 0° and less than or equal to 180° with an equatorial plane for full earth coverage or for coverage for latitudes from 0° to a latitude L in the Northern and Southern hemispheres or for latitudes greater than or equal to L in the Northern and Southern hemisphere comprising: arranging the number of satellites and the angular coverage of the satellites to provide up to and including k-fold contiguous/overlapping coverage over a first plane of the earth and contiguous/overlapping or non-contiguous coverage over a second plane, wherein k is a positive integer; and determining the configuration and the minimum number of satellites to produce a required coverage.